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IRELAND AKD THE 
ULSTER LEGEND 

OR THE 

TRUTH ABOUT ULSTER 



BY 

W. A. M9KNIGHT 



NEW YORK 
THE ENCYCLOPEDIA PRESS, Inc. 

119 Fast 57th Street 



IRELAND AND THE 
ULSTER LEGEND 



Copyrieht, 1921 

THE ENCYCLOPEDIA PRESS. Inc. 

NEW YORK 



iCI.A617555 






IRELAND AND THE 
ULSTER LEGEND 

OR THE 

TRUTH ABOUT ULSTER 

STATISTICAL TABLES 

COMPILED FROM 

PARLIAMENTARY BLUE BOOKS AND WHITE 
PAPERS, ETC. 

BY 

W. A. MCKNIGHT 

WITH NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS BY THE COMPILER 

AND 

FOREWORD 

BY 

SOPHIE BRYANT, D.Sc, Litt.D. 



NEW YORK 
THE ENCYCLOPEDIA PRESS, Inc. 

119 East 57th Street 




\0^ 



PREFACE 

THE information contained in this book should dispel the 
illusion that Unionist Ulster is superior in things moral 
and material to the rest of Ireland. For the claim of " Unionist 
Ulster over all," the only foundation is the vaunted boast of the 
leaders of the movement against Irish Rule, repeated from genera- 
tion to generation, without any authority being given in its 
support, until by the mere power of reiteration it had come to be 
accepted as true in England generally. All the time the repudia- 
tion of the legend lay in official publications issued by the highest 
authorities — by the Command of His Majesty the King, and the 
orders of Parliament. 

Speaking generally, I think it is deeply to be regretted that 
the information contained in Parliamentary Blue Books and 
White Papers — information of the greatest interest and import- 
ance in its bearing upon the social conditions of the Common- 
wealth — is not made more easily accessible to the public. It 
was only by accident, I might say, that I came upon the true 
facts in regard to Ulster in the course of my investigations as a 
student of affairs in Ireland. I had set out upon a general 
examination of the social state of Ireland, and as I proceeded 
with my inquiries the " Ulster Legend " disclosed itself. It was 
then I decided to bring the Northern Province well under the 
searchlights of Parliamentary Blue Books and White Papers. 

Many books have been written on Ulster, but this, I think, 
is the first to treat the subject statistically. 

I have kept my review of the facts as near in date as possible 



6 PREFACE 

to the five years prior to the war. I have taken that period for 
the following reasons : — 

{a) I v/ished to ascertain the basis of the claims put forward 
during those five years by the Ulster Unionist Party — 
that the citizens of Belfast, and the inhabitants of 
North-East Ulster generally, were cast in far too superior 
a mould to allow them to condescend to send representa- 
tives to sit with their fellow-countrymen from the other 
Provinces in an Irish Parliament. 

(b) I desired to learn something about those superior qualities 

from impartial sources. Such qualities, I thought, 
must in some way or other be known to the English 
supporters of the pretensions of the minority, seeing 
that, during the years in question, they offered to 
subscribe some milhons sterling, and also to gain the 
support of the British Army, to prevent the calamity 
of their Ulster friends being obliged to associate with their 
fellow-countrymen in a United Irish Parliament. 

(c) I thought it might be enlightening to probe the " Ulster 

Legend " which has been skilfully and successfully 
used by the Unionist minority in endeavouring to 
persuade the world that the men of Belfast and North- 
East Ulster are the " Brahmans " and "Supermen" 
of Ireland ; I also wanted to find out if the Legend 
were really based on facts, or if it were one of the 
" Myths " so often accepted by the world as " Gospel," 
and which are so frequently employed as " camouflage " 
to hide from view and observation the real objects of 
the authors which lie underneath. 

Mrs. Sophie Bryant, D.Sc, Litt.D., daughter of the late Rev. 
W. A. Willock, D.D., formerly Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, 
has been good enough to respond to my invitation to write a 
" Foreword " to the results of my investigations. Dr. Bryant 
was brought up in Ulster, where her father played an important 
part in the movement for the establishment of the National 
System of Education. Among the books she has written are 
Celtic Ireland, The Genius of the Gael, and Educational Ends. 

I feel that Dr. Bryant's " Foreword," having regard to her 



PREFACE 7 

knowledge of Ulster and of Irish history generally, and her 
scholastic honours in mathematical and moral science, will help 
readers rightly to appreciate the importance and value of these 
Statistical Tables. 

In view of the somewhat complex nature of the statistical 
and v:»ther matter contained in this book, I decided, in order to 
ensure accuracy, to have all the information and calculations 
verified by a Chartered Accountant. The Certificate of verifi- 
cation will be found on page 35. 

W. A. MCKNIGHT. 
London, 1920. 



FOREWORD 

THE ULSTER LEGEND 

PAGE 

I What the Legend Is ii 

II Is Ulster Superior in Material Prosperity ? . 12 

III Is Ulster Superior in Education and Public Spirit ? 14 

IV Is Ulster Superior in Physique and Hygiene ? . 16 
V Is Ulster Superior in Morale ? . . . .18 

VI Connaught and Anti-Irish Ulster : A Contrast . 20 

VII Pro-Irish Ulster and Anti-Irish Ulster Compared 21 

VIII What is Wrong with Belfast ? . . . .22 

{a) What are the Conditions of Education in 

Belfast ? . . . . . . .23 

{b) What are the Conditions of the Factory 

Workers in Belfast? . . . . .26 

IX The Truth about the Ulster Legend ... 28 



THE ULSTER LEGEND 

I. What the Legend 1$ 

THE idea of the " Ulster difficulty " has so bewitched the 
minds of British statesmen that their sense of truth, 
justice and political consistency seems for the time — a long time 
now — to be paralysed.. The difficulty arises out of the Ulster 
claim to exceptional treatment, either as a peculiar people of 
superior virtue, or as having some weird blood-bought claim 
to ascendancy in Ireland. And that, so far as the ordinary 
Englishman is concerned, rests on the popular legend, so industri- 
ously circulated in England, of Ulster's superiority in prosperity 
and civilization as compared with the rest of Ireland. This 
Ulster legend has indeed been asserted so loudly and continu- 
ously that unthinking people in England, and many who are not 
unthinking, take it for granted that it is true. 

The argument based on the legend is somewhat strange and 
unconvincing in these times of democratic poUtical theory, but the 
first thing to be done is to ascertain whether the assertion of 
superior prosperity and civilization is true. That is the object 
of the statistical inquiry set out in the following pages. All 
the information given in the tables of statistics, and reviewed 
with so much lucidity in the compiler's notes, is derived from 
Parliamentary Blue Books and White Papers, and the tables 
have all been examined by professional experts and certified 
as correct. The compiler in his notes has asked many questions 
and found the answers to them. It is for the reader to study 
these and pursue the study further in any way that seems good 
to him, as an inquirer after truth. In this foreword it is enough 
to recapitulate briefly the general tenor of the inquiry, and the 
conclusions as to the truth of the Ulster legend to which the 
inquiry leads. 

11 



12 IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 

The claim made for Ulster, and especially for "Political 
Ulster," i.e. Antrim and Down (including Belfast), Armagh and 
Londonderry, is that the people in these parts are more prosper- 
ous, more intelligent, more civilized altogether than those in the 
other three Irish provinces. The theory is that this is so, partly 
because theyjare of a superior race, and partly because the majority 
of them — and the others do not count — are supposed to be 
opposed to the Catholic religion. And this assumption of superi- 
ority is put forward as justifying a demand for separate treat- 
ment, if and when Ireland has Home Rule, and utihzed also, but 
with more sincere zeal, as an argument against any Home Rule 
at all. The dea that Ulster is the most progressive province 
in Ireland is certainly used to great effect in England, as a reason 
for deferring still longer the long-deferred Irish settlement. It 
revives the old argument for oligarchic ascendancy — i.e. that 
those who are superior ought to rule, with or without the consent 
of the governed. And, as we have seen, it is as clear as day that 
the Ulster difficulty was brought to a head, under Sir Edward 
Carson's leadership, for nothing less than to maintain the estab- 
lished oligarchic ascendancy in Ireland as a whole. The majority 
in North-East Ulster, i.e. " Political Ulster," is loyal to the ascend- 
ancy in Ireland. It would be to some purpose as an argument, 
in the eyes of many, if she proved also to be the most progressive 
part of Ireland in every sense of the word.^ 

According to the Ulster Legend, that is so. How is it accord- 
ing to the statistical facts ? Is Ulster richer, is she more civilized 
as regards provision for health and education, is she of higher 
moral and intellectual standard, than the rest of Ireland ? Let 
the reader turn to the general tables (I to XXI), and he will 
find for himself whether it is so or not. 

II. Is Ulster Superior in Material Prosperity ? 

The reader will find that the average valuation of agricultural 

holdings in Ulster is lower than in Leinster or Munster, and it is 

^jz 8s. id. below that for all Ireland. Ulster, moreover, has a 

larger number of small holdings not exceeding £15 rateable 

valuation, than any other of the provinces, 

^ The inquiry in these pages refers primarily to the comparison of 
Ulster as a whole with the rest of Ireland, but contrasts between anti- 
Irish Ulster and pro-Irish Ulster are also presented. 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 13 

And these facts are the more significant seeing that a larger 
proportion of the population is rural — lives on and by the land — 
in Ulster than in Leinster. The percentage of the population 
living on the land is, moreover, for all Ireland only 4-34 more 
than it is for Ulster including Belfast. 

He will find also that the Income Tax Assessment, per head 
and per family, of the rural population is less than that for either 
Leinster or Munster. It is also £4 6s. 5^/. per family below 
that for all Ireland. Both per head and per family, Ireland as a 
whole is more well-to-do than Ulster so far as the rural population 
is corcerned. 

These facts are certainly not signs of exceptional prosperity 
in rural Ulster, though there is nothing discreditable in them. 
The emigration statistics for the five years 1909-13 may have a 
deeper significance, but if so, it is not as a sign of progressive 
prosperity. The number of emigrants in those years from Uhter 
exceeded the sum of those from Leinster and Munster together. 
And, if we look into the details as to Ulster counties, we find that 
Antrim heads the list with 17,308 emigrants, and Down is a 
good second with 11 435. Donegal comes next, but is over 
10,000 behind Antrim. Fermanagh, one of the Plantation 
Counties, is at the bottom of +he list. Interesting comparisons 
on this, as on other points, will be found in the compiler's notes. 
Those between the two groups of Ulster counties which are against 
Irish Rule and for it respectively are very instructive. The 
figures are all disclosed ; any one can verify the conclusions for 
himself, or discover other conclusions. The general upshot of 
all the comparisons so far is unmistakable. Both for tho long 
period of over sixty j'cars from 185 1 and for the short period of 
the five years 1909-13, Anti-Irish Ulster's record of emigration, 
as compared with that of all Ireland, is not in the least what 
the upholders of the Carsonite policy imagine it — or desire to 
imagine it — to be. County Dublin had for the long period only 
29 per cent., the lowest county percentage in Ireland, 25-5 per 
cent, lower than the lowest in Ulster, which was that for County 
Down. Antrim even in that period stands as high as 707. 

It appears then that Ulster is not more prosperous in the 
worldly sense than the rest of Ireland, and clearly her people 
are not more attached to the soil. It may be that the Political 
Ulster of to-day is but a mushroom growth, and that the real 



14 IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 

old Ulster of the Bards and Heroes will in the end absorb her 
Anglo- Scottish foster-children with all their goodly racial qualities 
into the good old soil of " kindly Irish " human nature, 

III. Is Ulster Superior in Education and Public Spirit ? 

Is Ulster more civihzed in the humane sense than Ireland 
as a whole ? Is there less illiteracy among her people ? Is 
there better provision for the education of her children ? Is the 
standard of school attendance and of scholarly attainment 
higher ? Are the schools well ventilated, well Ughted and 
roomy ? Are they in particular above the average, as they ought 
to be, in wealthy Belfast ? Is the death-rate lower, especially 
the death-rate for infants and young children ? Is there less 
mortality from tuberculosis, and, if not, are more vigorous 
measures being taken to stamp it out ? What do the statistics 
dealing with tests of national vitality tell us in answer to these 
questions ? And are there fewer persons unable to read and write 
in Ulster than in the rest of Ireland ? 

It will be seen from Table XIV, showing the census returns 
for igii.that for every i.ooo of the population nine years old and 
over in Ulster there were 870 able to read and write. In Leinster 
there were 35 and in Munster 18 more than that number, in 
Connaught 54 less, and in every 1,000 for all Ireland 6 more. 
Using another weU-known test, we find similar results from the 
yearly average percentages of men and women respectively 
who signed the marriage register. Of men there were 931-8 
per 1,000 in Ulster. In Leinster there were 18 and in Munster 
20-4 (practically 2o|) more, in Connaught 24-4 less, and in all 
Ireland 7 more. Of women there were 949-2 in Ulster, 16 more 
in Leinster, 20^ more in Munster, i less in Connaught, and 9 
more in all Ireland. The women all round, it should be observed, 
are a little better than the men. According to the latest returns, 
i.e. for the last of the five years 1909-13, it appears that the Con- 
naught women were making up arrears. They were better than 
the Ulster men on the average of the five years. In this last year 
they were better than the Ulster women. Their percentage 
of excess over the men during 1913 was 2-4 and over the 
women o-i. 

The comparative backwardness of Ulster in this matter ceases 
to be altogether surprising when a study is made of school attend- 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 15 

ance throughout Ireland. In round numbers to the nearest 
1,000 the average number of absences daily in the years 1909-13 
were 73,000 in Ulster, 47,000 in Munster, 41,000 in Leinster and 
38,000 in Connaught. The figures considered in proportion 
to the population show that the smallest ratio of absences occur 
in Leinster, the next lowest in Munster, and Ulster comes third 
on the Ust. We should, of course, have expected it to be on a 
par with Leinster. 

For the causes which have placed the industrial province 
in this unsatisfactory position relative to education, the reader 
will learn all he desires from the reports of the school inspectors 
in Belfast. These reports reveal an appalling insufficiency of 
school accommodation and — as its results — serious overcrowding 
of children in school and a large number of others running loose 
in the streets, because there is no room for them until new schools 
are built. That was the state of affairs before the war. It is not 
likely that it has been remedied since the war broke out. 

Nor is this all. Some of the reports of the inspectors make 
it clear that not only is there a large number of children — 17,000, 
the inspector says — excluded from the schools for lack of room, 
but that a comparatively small proportion of those in the schools 
enter the higher standards. Further inquiry revealed the fact 
that of 64,132 pupils attending 286 Belfast schools there were 
64 in the 8th, 412 in the 7th, 1,651 in the 6th standards respec- 
tively. All the others, i.e. 62,005, were in standards below the 
6th. It appears, therefore, that for every 1,000 scholars in these 
lower standards there were 26-6 in the 6th standard, 6-6 in the 
7th and I -03 in the 8th. ^ Why is this ? With all her advantages 
for trade and industry, the standard of education in Belfast might 
well aspire to rival that of London, Manchester, or Birmingham, 

* In Table XII the reader will find an instructive comparison between 
Belfast and Ireland as a whole in respect of the standards attained in the 
National Schools. Ireland as a whole has 2-| children in standards above 
the 5th to every i in Belfast. The ratio of disadvantage increases also 
as the standard rises. 

Attention should be drawn also to a still more valuable comparison 
made on the same page between the standards found to be appropriate 
to 329 " half-timers " from a Belfast school and 1,267 from schools in 
the English industrial town of Oldham. In Belfast the 3rd standard 
claimed the largest share of the scholars and none were placed above the 
5th ; in Oldham, the largest number of entries was in the 6th, and there 
was only i below the 3rd standard. 



i6 IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 



^^?^^ 



But the things that ought to be done, and that the wealthy 
classes in Belfast have not set out to do, required a sufficient 
contribution of funds from either public or private sources. At 
present we are chiefly concerned with the fact that Belfast is 
behind the rest of Ireland in respect of the conditions and 
standards of her schools. 

We might reasonably expect that the province of Ulster would 
have taken a lead in making provision out of the rates, or other- 
wise, for Agricultural and Technical Instruction. This, however, 
is not the case. The contribution per cent, of the population 
in each province comes out in order of magnitude, with Leinster 
first, contributing £8 13s. 2dJ., Ulster and Munster following with 
£6 15s. 11^. and ^6 10s. 4^, respectively, and Connaught fourth 
with £4 19s. 

As regards grants of money for the provision of scholarships 
to the Universities, on similar principles to those awarded by the 
County Councils in England, Ulster's contribution per 1,000 of 
the population is £1 14s., whereas Connaught heads the list 
with £7 13s. 2d. ; Leinster contributes £6 is. 4d. ; Munster 
£5 6s. lod., and the average for all Ireland comes out at £4 los. iid. 

This is a strange result. If Ulster is so prosperous and so 
enlightened, as we are told, how is it that the Cinderella of the 
provinces in the barren West should, in zeal for Higher Education, 
exceed her Northern sister's liberality in the ratio of 4I to i ? 

IV. Is Ulster Superior in Physique and Hygiene ? 

Turning now to the statistics of national vitahty, we find 
that Leinster has the highest death-rate of the four provinces. 
The number of deaths per thousand for the five years 1909-13 
were for Leinster 91, for Ulster 86, for Munster 79, and for 
Connaught 71. In respect of the figures for infant mortality, i.e. 
of children under a year old, Leinster and Ulster keep their 
places as first and second with 112-8 and 94-9 respectively per 
1,000 of the births. East Ulster, however, has 106-9 '> West 
Ulster only 67-5. Connaught is lowest with 58-3. 

We might put the matter thus, in order to reaUze the facts 
more concretely. Imagine the infants in each province as 
arranged symbolically in groups of 10,000 each. Then, on an 
average : — 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 17 

583 of the Connaught infants in a group 
857 „ Munster 
949 „ Ulster 
1,128 ,, Leinster ,, ,, 

would have died in a year. 

In both cases the record for Connaught is best and the record 
for Leinster is worst. Leinster contains Dublin, and everybody 
who knows Dublin, knows that the housing conditions under 
which the poor live in that city are very far from what they 
ought to be. 

And apart from special considerations affecting either or 
both of these Irish cities, we might normally expect that the 
infant death-rate would be lower in the more rural provinces, 
more especially under the improved conditions of rural hfe for 
the people that have existed in Ireland since the Land Act 
became law. As regards city problems for the housing of the 
poor, it must be remembered that Dublin inherits from past 
generations of Enghsh rulers a condition of affairs, as to house 
property in the heart of the city, that has made it impossible to 
deal with the housing problem properly without immense expen- 
diture out of the city rates such as could not be provided without 
large extension of the city boundaries. Such an extension ,will 
no doubt be made when there is an Irish Government. Special 
powers and special grants of some kind will probably be needed 
to enable the city authorities to solve the problem effectually. 

What have the statistics to tell us about the mortality from 
tuberculosis in the several provinces, and the contributions of 
money for its treatment that have been voted by the County 
Councils in each province ? We find that Ulster, with the largest 
number of deaths from tuberculosis, contributes for remedial 
measures less per 1,000 of the population than any of the other 
provinces. Munster with 1,152 less deaths pays £3 8s. 8d. per 
1,000 more; Connaught with the smallest number of deaths pays 
at a rate second best to Munster. It may, however, be borne 
in mind, on Ulster's side, that, Ulster's population being more than 
half a million larger than the average of Leinster and Munster, 
her total contribution is not so much smaller in proportion to 
their average total as her rate is to their average rate. The test, 
of course, is the rate. As against Ulster's £1 Ss. Sd., we have 
Connaught 's £2 8s. od. 



l8 IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 

V. Is Ulster Superior in Morale ? 

How does Ulster stand, as compared with her sister pro- 
vinces, in respect of her people's personal morale ? Two definite 
statistical tests are available. They are both fundamental 
tests profoundly affecting the national Hfe in respect both to 
personal character in individuals and social relationships in the 
community. 

(i) What proportion of the children who are born into the 
several provinces of Ireland come into the world under the stigma 
of illegitimacy ? The record of Ireland, Catholic and Protestant 
— whether Pro-Irish or Anti-Irish politically — is good in this 
respect. It is, indeed, the third best in the world. 277 per 
10,000 of the total of Irish births was for the five years 1909-13 
the number of these little ones born into Ireland. 372 per 10,000 
of the Ulster births, 288 and 232 respectively of the Leinster 
and Munster births, and 70 of the Connaught births per 10,000, 
in each case were illegitimate. The great contrast between 
Ulster and Connaught needs no comment beyond the observation 
that the proportion of illegitimate births in Ulster is five times that 
in Connaught. 

(2) The other statistical test of morale is the number of 
habitual criminals at large in the particular district under obser- 
vation. The term " habitual criminal " is used here in its 
technical sense as "a person enumerated by the police who 
engages habitually in crime as his means, or part of his means, of 
livelihood. ' ' Taking the yearly average for the years 1908-12, the 
numbers of these persons enumerated as being at large in the four 
provinces respectively were 12-2 in Connaught, 68-6 in Munster, 
80 in Leinster, and 566-4 in Ulster. The numbers of these persons 
in each province per 100,000 of the population were, in the same 
order, 2-00, 6-62, 6-88, 35-81, and 16-56 for all Ireland. Thus there 
were, approximately, in every 100,000 of their respective popula- 
tions, 18 habitual criminals in Ulster to i in Connaught, 3^ in 
Munster, and 3I in Leinster. 

And for houses classified as "resorts of habitual, criminals 
at large " the yearly average for 1908-12 was 164-8 in Ulster, and 
17-2 for the rest of Ireland, with none in Connaught, 

This is a starthng result. Whatever may be said in praise or 
in extenuation of Ulster, there can, for the time, be no escape 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 19 

from the conclusion that it entirely disposes of her claim to 
superiority of morale in the present generation. 

On reflection, however, it must be admitted that, in the 
nature of things, apart from any claim to special superiority, 
it might be expected that there should be more habitual criminals 
in a big money-making city like Belfast than in rural districts, 
small towns, and even Dublin, the mere capital of a non-self- 
governing island like Ireland. This idea appears to have occurred 
also to the compiler, and he followed it up by compihng another 
table giving the figures on the same subject for all the large 
towns in England, Ireland and Wales. Scotland is omitted 
because she publishes no statistics, London — is it strange to 
say ? — is lowest on this Hst with 15-11 habitual criminals in 100,000 
persons, and Dublin with 16-34 — ^i more than London — comes 
next. Third from the bottom of the list, though with a record just 
over that of London and Dublin together, is the semi-Irish city 
of Liverpool. 

The reader will find it worth while to follow this enquiry 
farther as it is set out in Table XVI. The statistics are there 
given separately : — (i) for all the Irish provinces, (2) for Ireland 
outside Ulster, (3) for England and Wales, and also (4) in analysis 
for Ulster, treating that portion which is against Irish self- 
determination apart from the counties which are for it. The 
result is remarkable. Anti-Irish Ulster is easily at the top, 
i.e. at the wrong end of the Irish list ; Ulster province comes 
next, and is followed by all Ireland a very long way behind. 
Down at the bottom we find Leinster outside Dublin and Connanghi, 
with I -61 and 2-oo respectively, taking the lowest places ; only 
2 per 100,000 of her population is all Connaught has to show 
in the way of habitual criminals. For a criminals' guest-house, 
as we have already seen — and indeed it is obvious — she has no 
use at all. Next lowest, strangely enough at first sight, is 
Pro-Irish Ulster with 3-77. One cannot but be impressed by the 
fact that the record of morale, in this respect, should be relatively 
so exceptionally good in that portion of the country in which the 
Catholic and non-Catholic populations are so nearly equal and 
mix so freely with each other. Fourth from the bottom of the 
list is Ireland outside Ulster, with 5-73, Approximately, taking 
the figures as they stand, we might say that Pro-Irish Ulster's 
record is about i^ times as good as that of all Ireland outside 



20 IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 

Ulster, that Connaught's record is a little less than twice as good, 
and Leinster's outside Dublin is 2\ times as good as Pro-Irish 
Ulster's. 

This excellent record for Pro-Irish Ulster may be a symptom 
of social health, causes for which we should expect to find in 
Ireland wherever Catholics and non-Catholics are nearly equal in 
number and intermingle freely in the transaction of their indus- 
trial and social affairs. This they do in the towns and counties 
of Pro-Irish Ulster, and the development of the co-operative 
movement in such a mixed county as Cavan or Fermanagh tends 
to the same effect. It appears, moreover, that even in Ulster 
as a whole there are 2,949 Protestant children in schools under 
Catholic teachers, 3,099 Catholic children in schools under Protes- 
tant teachers, besides 2,080 Protestant and 1,437 Cathohc 
children under mixed staffs of Cathohcs and Protestants. This 
would not have been possible some fifty years ago. 

VI. Connaught and Anti-Irish Ulster : A Contrast. 

Then, there is Connaught — Catholic Connaught — the Con- 
naught of Cromwell's curse, of the Great Famine and the whole- 
sale evictions of the last century, of the Flight of the Irish to 
their new home beyond the Western Sea. It is the remnant of 
this Connaught race that has been making records in these statis- 
tical tables of such a satisfactory and, to many persons, surprising 
character. For the greater convenience of those who are interested 
more especially in the prospect of a Connaught, by and by, that 
may become in some ways a model to the world, the compiler 
has set forth in detail the contrast as it stands to-day between 
Anti-Irish Ulster — Sir Edward Carson's own particular Ulster — ■ 
and her most extreme opposite, the Irish province in the West, 
The reader will find material for much useful reflection in this sup- 
plementary table and the compiler's notes. (See Table XXI.) 

In all the statistical tests of national vitality Connaught 
does better — and generally much better — than Anti-Irish Ulster, 
or even Ulster as a whole. 

Of deaths at all ages, she has in every 10,000 of her popula- 
tion 165 less than Anti-Irish Ulster for the five years 1909-13. 

Of deaths under one year of age, she has in every 10,000 of the 
births, 486 less for the five years than Anti-Irish Ulster and 
366 less than Ulster. In other words, the infant mortaHty 



IRELAND AND THE ULST:ER LEGEND 21 

in Anti-Irish Ulster is nearly double that of Connaught. 

Of illegitimate births she has 361 less in every 10,000 of the 
births. Anti-Irish Ulster has over six times and County Antrim 
nearly eight times as many.^ 

Anti-Irish Ulster has 286 more deaths from tuberculosis in 
every 10,000 of the deaths than Connaught has, and contributes 
out of the rates for remedial measures £604 less. 

The Connaught County Councils also contribute out of the 
rates for University Scholarships £28 for every £1 contributed 
for the same purpose in North-East Ulster ; the population of 
the latter being, however, i| times that of the former. These 
facts also may be accounted to Connaught for righteousness. 

Most serious of all are the facts about habitual criminals. 
The disparity is extraordinary. 546-2 in the one case, 12-2 
in the other, were the yearly averages for the five years 1908-12— r 
over 44f in North-East Ulster for every i in Connaught. In 
every 100,000 of their respective populations the ratio is 26 to i, 

VII. Pro-Irish Ulster and Anti-Irish Ulster Compared. 

From our point of view, however, the most striking fact in 
all these comparisons is the contrast between Anti-Irish and Pro- 
Irish Ulster; 52-22 habitual criminals per 100,000 of popu- 
lation in the first case, to 3-77 in the other ; 14 to i is the ratio. 

The comparison between the two parts of Ulster may be 
extended to the statistics concerning birth and the mortality of 
young children. In the figures for each of the three tests there 
is a marked contrast. 

1. During the five years 1909-13 there were for 10,000 births — 
In East Ulster 431 illegitimate. 

In West Ulster 239 illegitimate. 

2. In East Ulster 1,069 ^^^^ within a year of birth. 
In West Ulster 675 died within a year of birth. 

3. In every 10,000 of the deaths — 

In East Ulster 2,304 were of children under 5 years of age. 
In West Ulster 1,292 were of children under 5 years of age. 

4. And as regards mortality due to tuberculosis. 

In East Ulster 1,352 in 10,000 deaths ] were traced to 
In West Ulster 881 in 10,000 deaths j this cause. 

* The rate for Connaught, however, is by far the lowest rate in Europe. 
(For further details see Table VII.) 



.22 IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 

5. It is noteworthy also that West Ulster's ratio of contribu- 
tion to funds for the treatment of tuberculosis in 1913 was more 
than three times that of East Ulster. The mortality due to this 
cause is, as we see above, only two-thirds in the West of what it is 
in the East. 

6. In respect of moneys paid by County Councils and County 
Boroughs for University Scholarships (1911-14), the discrepancy 
is still more remarkable, 3s. 2d. in the one case to £4 14s. 2d. 
in the other. The fact that Donegal heads the list of Irish 
counties, in respect of the sums contributed for this purpose, 
should be noted by the reader. It is from the observation of 
such simple spontaneous symptoms as these that one comes 
to realize the development of ideals in the mind of the people. 

VIII. What is Wrong with Belfast ? 

The results to which our inquiry has led us must have sur- 
prised the reader in many respects, and not least in respect of 
those two tests of individual and social morale as to which East 
Ulster stands out in such marked contrast to Connaught and 
West Ulster. In respect of the statistics of habitual criminals 
for England, Ireland and Wales, Leinster outside Dublin and 
Connaught stand at one end of the list, with i'6i and 2"oo per 
100,000 of population respectively. West Ulster comes next, 
Ireland outside Ulster fourth, followed by Munster and Leinster, 
all under 7 per 100,000. At the other end of the extended list 
with the corresponding figures for various parts of England 
and Wales we find Belfast with 12973 as her record, more than 
twice as bad as Sheffield with 58'55, which is the highest in England 
and Wales. What can be the reason for this state of affairs ? 
Can it be that this and all those other signs of weakness or deca- 
dence in the statistics of Ulster, and especially " Political Ulster," 
are due to some false and pernicious view of life which was 
revealing itself as an anti-social, anti-humanist cult in Belfast, 
during the five years 1908-12 to which the statistics apply, and 
which may or may not have been working to similar effect up to 
the present time. Whatever it is, that is — or was — wrong about 
Ulster so far as the statistics available are concerned, it seems 
likely that we may find a clue to it in Belfast. We must there- 
fore ask ourselves two obvious questions. W[i2± are the con- 
ditions of up-bringing for the children of Belfast ? What are 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 23 

the conditions of living for the workers of Belfast ? There are 
other question?, we should like to ask, but the statistics are not 
available. So let these two suffice.^ 

The importance of the second question in the case of Belfast 
is very great. Belfast is the great centre of shipbuilding and 
of the linen industry. Large numbers of its people, men and 
women, live by serving these two interests and others auxiliary 
to them. Wliat then are the conditions of labour in Belfast ? 
Are wages sufficient to enable the worker to live in health and 
decency on what he or she can earn ? If not, there will be inade- 
quate housing, insufficient food, bad health, misery and, in the 
long run, increase of crime. It is necessary therefore to inquire, 
so far as possible, into conditions of labour in the Belfast'linen 
industry, as described and commented on in the latest official 
report that is now available. Excerpts from the Report of the 
Committee appointed by Mr. Winston Churchill in 1911 to inquire 
into the conditions of employment in the linen industry are 
therefore among the documents reprinted in these pages. 

(a) What are the Conditions of Education in Belfast ? 

It is, however, more convenient first to inquire into the 
conditions of education in Belfast. The attention of the reader 
has already been drawn to this subject in relation to the statistics 
about school attendance in the different parts of the country 
(p. 57). The school accommodation in Belfast turns out to be 
grievously inadequate, with the result that, on the one hand, 
children are packed together in schools which are much too small 
for the number — more than twice as many in some cases than the 
school was built to contain. On the other hand, we learn also 
from the inspectors that there is a further excess of children who 
are not able to find places in the schools at all. Many of them 
are doubtless too young to be employed in any other way, and so 

* In connection with these abnormal figures, attention may be drawn 
here to the compiler's note on p. 70, stating the strange fact that whereas 
in the year 191 2 there were in Belfast 490 habitual criminals enumerated 
by the police, the number in I9i3,the following year, was only 42. 448 had 
disappeared entirely from the list. The war had not yet brolcen out at the 
time, but the Ulster Volunteers for Civil War were being enrolled in 1912, 
and men were, it is said, paid 35. a day. The two facts may be connected. 
That the first i? a fact there can be no doubt at all. The alleged payment 
of 35. a day can of course be easily verified or disproved by those who have 
access to the immediate sources of information. 



•24 IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 

resort to playing in the streets and getting into mischief now and 
then. Such a condition of things in a great industrial town is 
very serious. Idle children in the country can employ them- 
selves either at work or at play to much greater advantage. 

Mr. J. Chambers, M.A., writes in his Report to the Com- 
missioners of National Education in 1913-14 that : — 

" Many of the schools are greatly over crowded, but this overcrowd- 
ing does not give a true representation of the number of children 
for whom additional accommodation is required, as, owing to recent 
regulations, children are refused admission to schools in which there 
is no space available for them, with the result that many of them 
never enter any school at all." 

For one group of schools, the accommodation needed was for 
3,005, and the actual accommodation provided was 2,369. For 
the 636 children exiled from this group of schools by lack of 
room, there was of course the street. And the street has an 
unfair advantage in attractiveness over the Belfast schools, 
seeing that so many of them — about 50 per cent. — have no play- 
grounds, and only 30 per cent, were reported as suitably supplied. 
There were 69 schools without playgrounds in 1907. 

These defects had long been a grievance with the inspectors. 
In a report for the school year 1909-10 Mr. Keith, a District 
Inspector, reports that " Serious cases of overcrowding continued 
to occur." They were not new eleven years ago. Examples are 
given : 386 children in places provided for 291, 73 taught in a 
room for 44, and 116 in a room for 47. The Senior Inspector in 
the same report says that " On visiting another school I opened 
the door of a class-room when I was met by an atmosphere of 
appalling foulness. There were 75 in a room, though it could 
only accommodate 33." 

" The deficiency is of long standing," says Mr. Dewar, M.A., one 
of the Senior Inspectors, in his report for 1910-11, " and is growing 
with the growth of Ballymacarrett. . . . One sees no prospect of 
any remedy. Matters have been allowed to drift for such a long 
time that the sight of children loitering in the streets during school 
hours excites no surprise, or the oft-told tale of failures to find room 
in any school no sympathy or regret." 

" I do not think," says another Senior Inspector, Mr. P. J. Kelly, 
" it is an exaggeration to say that there are, on an average, at least 
17,000 children of school-going age who are absent from school each 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 25 

day. This is an appalling fact and should make Belfast open its 
eyes." 

The duty of the citizens of Belfast had, however, been indicated 
clearly enough by another inspector, Mr. E. P. Dewar, M.A., five 
years earlier. In 1907 he said, in his report for the year 1906-7 : — 

" For some years past, school building has practically been at a 
standstill in Belfast and has not kept pace with the growth of the 
city. Churches which, in other places, are the leaders in educational 
movement, and which in former times were so in Belfast, have some- 
how stepped down from their position and taken a less prominent 
place in the school life of the city." 

Later on, however, in the same report one reads as follows 
about the schools under Roman Catholic management : — 

" The schools under Roman Catholic management are in the 
main good and suitable buildings, erected in recent years at much 
expense to the localities, and I desire to say that the foregoing remarks 
do not refer at all to these schools. The Methodists too, have done 
well." 

This complaint, and the inspector's appeal to the well-to-do 
non-Catholics of Belfast to stand by the schools, failed in effect. 
This we know, since the shortage had increased so greatly five years 
later, as we have already seen. 

Why did it fail ? Not for lack of zeal on the part of the 
Protestant clergy, we may be sure, nor for lack of professional 
support from the teachers and inspectors. Belfast is a city 
with many wealthy citizens and a large number of others com- 
fortably off. The responsibility for neglect of popular education 
rests on them. It is for them — no matter to which branch of the 
Christian Church they belong, or as secularist citizens of humane 
pubhc spirit, if they are not attached to any Church — it is for 
them to organize the necessary -committees of management in 
every district and see that the schools of Belfast do their duty 
by the children and are a credit to the great industrial city of 
Belfast. As matters now stand, there is no escape from the 
conclusion that, in respect of popular education, the standard 
of civilization in Belfast is low, and the conclusion is at least 
suggested that this fact has some effect in swelling the record of 
habitual crime, and in lowering the standard of physical and 
moral vitality generally. 



26 IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 

Well might the inspector, Mr. Dewar, say as he did in his 
1910-11 report : — 

" There is something amiss with a place which abounds in industrial 
works and maintains -a teeming population, but is unwilling or reluc- 
tant to provide the means of giving every child within its bounds 
the opportunity of learning to read and write." 

At least ten more schools were estimated by this inspector, 
as being necessary to make up the deficit in a particular district 
of Belfast. This was in 1910-11. 

It is interesting for purposes of comparison to note that 
just at this time, or soon after, the average on the school roll 
of the National Schools in Belfast was found to be less than in 
1905 by 1,369, whereas in Dublin the average for the same year 
was 1,661 greater than the corresponding average in 1905. In 
those seven years the school roll in Dublin had risen in number by 
292 more than the school roll in Belfast had fallen. 

No wonder the Senior Inspector in 1912, Mr. P. J. Kelly, 
speaks of the dreary and disheartening reading that his report 
would make if he set down in it all the information he had acquired. 
The hopelessness of the situation evidently weighed heavily on 
his mind : — 

" It is a pity that a city in many respects so progressive," he says, 
" with pride in its port and defiance in its eye, should have to look 
calmly on while its children are either cooped up in Hi-ventilated 
class-rooms or left to face the perils of the street. It cannot be that 
all the criticism suggested by this topic has been wasted." 

(b) What are the Conditions of Factory Workers in 

Belfast ? 

Inquiry into the conditions of the factory workers — especially 
the women workers — in Belfast is not less important for our 
purpose than inquiry into the provision of education for the 
children, Th« factory or other workshop is, in a very real sense, 
a continuation school for a boy or a girl during a susceptible 
period of life. If all the factories in the United Kingdom were 
equipped and organized on lines similar to those which have been 
adopted in certain well known firms in Lancashire and York- 
shire, the standard of efficiency and personal intelligence of the 
people would rise considerably in a generation. There are also 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 27 

a few notable examples in Dublin of developments to similar 
effect. 

It is, however, with the condition of the factory workers in 
a very crude material sense that our inquiry is perforce limited 
for the present in the case of Belfast. The available material 
consists solely of the Report of a Committee on " Sweating " 
appointed by Mr. Winston Churchill in 191 1, and deals with the 
case of out-workers only.^ ^ Attention had been called to the 
subject by the Medical Officer of Health for Belfast, Dr. H. W. 
Baillie, in his annual report for 1909, ^ in which he laid stress 
on the unsatisfactory conditions attending the employment of 
women as out -workers for the making up of Unen and cotton 
goods. He had previously complained several times. It was 
alleged that the small rate of payment which numbers of these 
«out-workers received necessitated their working for unduly long 
hours, to the injury of their health and if, as in the majority of 
cases, they were mothers of families, to the neglect of their homes. 
As the facts came out in the examination of witnesses, it 
appeared : — 

(i) That the women were obHged to work, unless the men 
got better wages, as otherwise the families could not 
be maintained. 

(2) That wages were paid for piecework, but at so low a 

rate in the case of a large class of workers, engaged in 
thread drawing, machine stitching, embroidery, etc., 
that, to put the matter very briefly, condensing the 
summary in the Blue Book : — 

Among 531 workers, 422 received less than 2d. an 
hour, and of these 168 less than i^. an hour. Only 3 
received between ^d. and 6d. an hour ; none more. 

(3) Miss Galway, General Secretary of the Textile Workers' 

Association, gave evidence as to the effect of certain 
improvements that had been made in machinery. Her 
testimony was that the increased power of the machine 

1 Workers in the factories were invited to give evidence voluntarily. 
The Committee reported as follows on the result : "Of the workers in 
the Belfast factories we could induce only a few to come before us as 
witnesses, and some of these complained of low weekly wages for full- 
time employment, and of inadequate piece rates." 

' Dr. Baillie had on several previous occasions complained, but with- 
out result. 



28 IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 

tended to double the output per hour, but with increase 
of wear and tear to the worker who received no increase 
of pay, as she is paid the same wage as before for a 
double output on the ground that the machine works 
twice as fast. 

This, of course, is contrary to common sense, justice 
and humanity. And the fact that, according to the 
evidence, the extra strain is on the eyes adds not a 
little to the hardship of the situation. 

The quantity of the work in proportion to the pay may be 
imagined from one instance. A woman was embroidering small 
dots on cushion covers. There were 300 dots on each and she was 
paid one penny for the lot. Another worker had to sew 384 for 
one penny. Examples in abundance are given in the following 
pages. The result is " the under- fed, over- wrought physique of" 
the sweated worker with weakened stamina and lack of resistance 
to the inroads of disease." Moreover, since practically the whole 
of these under-paid over- wrought workers are mothers, the evil 
effects of their unremitting and ill-remunerated toil must be 
transmitted in some measure to the next generation. No one 
knows how much of the consumption which prevails amongst 
the poor is due to sweating, but certainly it works its wicked 
will on many as a contributory cause. It is impossible to study 
the evidence given in these reports without coming to the con- 
clusion that, as to progressive reform in the conditions of life 
for the factory workers, Belfast is far behind the standard of 
civilization that obtains in the factories of Yorkshire and Lanca- 
shire. And, if there has been in the capital of Ulster deteriora- 
tion of moral character, as well as physique, among the poor of 
the city — men as well as women — consequent on the existence 
of this evil state of affairs, the chief blame lies at the door of those 
who, for their own enrichment, have dared to " grind the faces " 
of God's poor. Nor can those be accounted innocent who, with 
influence and authority to prevent this evil, have allowed it to 
go on. 

IX. The Truth about the Ulster Legend. 

This, then, is the truth about the Ulster Legend. In all its 
particulars it makes a mock at truth. Ulster outside Belfast, 
and the counties which make up its immediate hinterland, differs, 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 29 

county by county, from other parts of Ireland in ways that are 
well within the limits of natural variation, as shown in other 
lands. But, as regards the myth of Ulster's superior civilization, 
it is revealed, when brought to the test of statistical inquiry, 
as, in most of its relevant particulars, the very reverse of the 
truth. The inquirer, without expecting it, is forced, as we have 
seen, to probe the matter further than at first intended, in order 
to account for the discouraging nature of the statistics as to 
personal morale and physical vitality in the centre of " Political 
Ulster." In doing so, he comes upon two of the most fruitful 
causes of race deterioration busy at work within the heart of the 
rich and much- vaunted city of Belfast. 

This great city is famous throughout the world for its ship- 
building and the linen industry. Obviously, there must be many 
men of brains and. powerful character — real magnates in their 
way — within its borders. But inside, at the heart of it, helping 
to build up its wealth, there are thousands of " sweated " workers, 
wearing out their darkened lives, and of little children plaj^ing 
aimlessly in the streets all day and idling or toiling in their dreary 
homes, because there is "no room for them " in the schools. 
Doubtless it is because this kind of thing has been going on so 
long that the statistics of physique and morale for Ulster province 
as a whole are not better than they are. 

No one could beUeve this Ulster myth who looks into the 
facts with a view to learning the truth whole and unadulterated. 
But for those who are careless of truth it is easy enough, and 
this myth is only one of many myths with belief in which the 
English enemies to Irish rule in Ireland have, generation after 
generation, salved their consciences and sought to satisfy the 
scruples of their friends. The real object of the Ulster myth is 
to persuade the honest people in England that it is essential for 
Ulster, and better in the long run for Ireland as a whole, that 
the country should be governed, as it now is, by an alliance 
between the Ulster magnates and that portion of the British 
aristocracy which has interests material or sentimental in Ireland. 
These make up the party in Ireland who, in alliance with their 
relatives, friends, sympathizers and other adherents in Great 
Britain, maintain the tradition of a superior race and emphasize 
it by association with the Protestant religion. This association 
is very useful in order to bring the sympathy of the church- 



30 IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 

going English Protestant into line with the religious prejudices 
of the Orangeman in Ulster. The ideal of ascendancy as such, 
based merely on the principle of hereditary aristocracy, has no 
chance of effective persistence in the modern world — not even 
in Great Britain, The Protestant religion and the legend of 
Ulster's superiority are elements in the manifold protective 
camouflage under which the old ship sails. But the real gospel 
of the Anti-Irish, whether hereditary aristocrats or successful 
business men or place-hunting lawyers, is the maintenance of 
their own ascendancy. It is " Up the English oligarchic interest 
in Ireland, up the industrial magnates of Belfast." And, as 
every one knows, the army chiefs in 1914, when war broke out, 
were staunch supporters of the cause. It is the lawyers who do 
the business, and " verily they have their reward." 

SOPHIE BRYANT 



CONTENTS OF STATISTICAL TABLES 

ETC. 

TABLES PAGE 

I Population — In the Provinces — On the Land — In 
Towns over r.ooo Inhabitants — Agricultural 
Holdings — Number of Holdings — Number at 
different valuations — percentage within cer- 
TAIN Valuations 36 

II Total Rateable Valuation — Income Tax Assess- 
ment ON Agricultural Holdings, etc. — Income 
Tax Assessment on Agricultural Holdings, 
Business Premises, Factories, Sites, etc. . 38 

III Emigration — Emigrants from the Provinces — 1851- 

1913, 1909-1913 40 

IV Emigration — Emigrants from the Counties — 1851- 

1913, 1909-1913 42 

V Agricultural and Technical Instruction — Moneys 
PAID BY Ratepayers for this Purpose — In- 
ability to compare Belfast and Dublin statis- 
tically — Opposition to the Dublin Boundaries 
Extension Bill . 43 

VI University Scholarships, Exhibitions, etc. — Moneys 

paid by County Councils and County Boroughs 46 

VII Total Births and Deaths — Illegitimate Births — 
Deaths of Infants — Deaths from Tubercu- 
losis — Moneys paid for the Treatment of Tuber- 
culosis in the Financial Year 1913-1914 . 48 

VIII Ratio of Clergymen to Members of Religious De- 
nominations — Catholic and Non-Catholic Popu- 
lations — Catholic and Non-Catholic Clergy- 
men — Unpaid Magistrates ..... 50 

Statistics of Illiteracy .... 52 

31 



32 IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 

TABLES PAGE 

IX Comparison of Illiterates by Provinces in different 

Age Groups 55 

X Comparison of Illiterates by Groups of Counties 

in Two Age Groups ...... 56 

XI Absentee Pupils from the Public Elementary 
Schools — Belfast Illiteracy compared with 
THAT OF Counties outside Ulster — Registrar- 
General's Letter re Dublin Boundaries . . 57 

XII Elementary School Standards — Pupils in Belfast 

COMPARED with PuPILS THROUGHOUT IRELAND FOR 

Standards attained 59 

XIII Half-time Pupils — Belfast and Oldham compared 

for Standards attained by Half-time Pupils . 59 

XIV Persons able to Read and Write and Persons who 

" Signed in Writing " the Marriage Registers- 
Belfast School Accommodation — Extracts from 
THE Reports of the Belfast School Inspectors 
regarding School Accommodation, etc. . . 61 

XV Habitual Criminals at Large — Extraordinary -"Re- 

duction IN THE 1913 Belfast Police " Enumera- 
tion " OF Habitual Criminals at Large and 
their Houses of Resort compared with the 
Yearly " Enumerations " of the previous Ten 
Years 70 

XVI Habitual Criminals, etc. — North-East Ulster com- 

pared WITH Pro-Irish-Rule Ulster — Belfast 
WITH Dublin, London, Liverpool, Birmingham, 
ETC. — Sweating in Belfast — Extracts from the 
Reports of Dr. H. W. Baillie and the Home 
Office Committee on Sweating in Belfast — 
Analysis of 168 Cases Investigated — Rates 

VARYING FROM UNDER ^d. TO UNDER id. PER HOUR — 

Comparison of Ratios of Habitual Criminals at 
Large and Houses of Resort in Ireland with 
those in England and Wales .... 72 



ULSTER TABLES 
XVII Anti- and Pro-Irish-Rule Ulster compared. . 81 
XVIII County Antrim compared with County Cavan . 84 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 33 

TABLES PAGE 

XIX CouNTvr Tyrone compared with other Pro-Irish- 
Rule Counties 85 

XX Ulster Counties (except Donegal) compared with 
Counties in other Provinces for Income Tax 
Assessment and Emigration . . . .88 

XXI North-East Ulster compared with the Province 

OF Connaught 90 

APPENDIX 

Dublin Boundaries Extension Bill — Extracts from the 
Report of the Lords and Commons Joint Committee — 
also from " The Irish Times " Leading Article on the 
Report — Letters from Registrar-General ... 92 



LIST OF BLUE BOOKS, WHITE PAPERS 
AND OTHER DOCUMENTS FROM 
WHICH THE STATISTICS, ETC., IN THIS 
BOOK HAVE BEEN COMPILED 

I 1911 Census Returns. 

II 1911 Census Returns — White Paper Returns of Income 

Tax Assessment for 1910-11. 

Ill & IV Emigration Returns. Registrar-General's Letters. 

V White Paper Returns. 

VI & VII Local Taxation (Ireland) Returns. 

VII Registrar-General's Returns. 

VIII igii Census of Population and Clergymen — White 

Paper Returns of Magistrates (unpaid) appointed 
to end of 1913. 

IX & X 191 1 Census Returns. 

XI & XII Reports of the Commissioners of National Education 
— Letters from the Irish Education Office — Re- 
turns of Belfast Schools from the Belfast School 
Attendance Office. 

XIII Report from Belfast School Inspector — Oldham Edu- 

cation Office Report — Letters from Belfast School 
Attendance Office. 

XIV T911 Census Returns — Registrar-General's Reports. 

XV & XYl Police Returns. Letters from the Belfast Commis- 
sioner of Police. 

34 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 35 

TABLES 

XVII to XXI Blue Books and White Papers already Quoted— White 
Paper Returns of Arrests for Drunkenness from 
January i, 1908, to the last issued December 31, 
1912. 



Belfast Schools : Belfast School Inspectors' Reports. 

Belfast Workers : Home Office Committee's Report on " Sweating 
in Belfast— Dr. H. W. Bailie's Report. 

City of Dublin Extension of Boundaries Bill : Blue Book- 
"The Irish Times" — "Dod's Parliamentary Companion." 



CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT'S CERTIFICATE. 

I CERTIFY that all the figures and quotations given in the Tables, 
and other matter contained in pages 36 to 94 of this publication, have 
been correctly extracted from the books and documents set out above. 
I have verified all calculations of percentages, ratios, and other statistical 
data, and have further found all references as to dates, names, comparisons, 
etc., to be correctly quoted. 

Howard Button, C.B.E., F.C.A., F.C.I.S., 
of the firm of Chantrey, Button & Co. 
61-2 Lin'coln's Inn Fields, 
London, W.C. 

2nd December, 1920. 



36 IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 



TABLE I 

DISTRIBUTION OF POPULAITON. NUMBER AND 
VALUATION OF AGRICULTURAL HOLDINGS.^ 



LEINSTER HAS A HIGHER PERCENTAGE OF URBAN POPULA- 
TION THAN ULSTER. ULSTER HAS A HIGHER PERCENTAGE THAN 
LEINSTER OF HER POPULATION ON THE LAND. 

ULSTER HAS A HIGHER PERCENTAGE THAN EITHER LEINSTER 
OR MUNSTER OF AGRICULTURAL HOLDINGS NOT EXCEEDING £15 
VALUATION. ULSTER HAS 42,125 LAND HOLDINGS NOT EXCEED- 
ING £4 VALUATION PER HOLDING. 



Section 2 of this Table shows that Leinster had, in 1911, 
oi every 1,000 of her population 87 more than Ulster had 
in towns of over 1,000 inhabitants. In Section 3 it is seen 
that Ulster had 92 more than Leinster in every 1,000 of her 
population on the Land.^ 

Few realize that of the Agricultural Holdings in Ulster 
69-33 per cent, of them do not exceed a rateable valuation 
of £15 each ; or that of the 124,367 Holdings (see Sec. 5) 
not exceeding £15 each, 42,125 do not exceed a rateable 
valuation of £4 per holding. 



^ References to the sources of the information contained in this and 
the following pages will be found on pages 34-5. 

* The percentages, averages, ratios, etc., in the Tables, and compiler's 
notes, have been calculated either to the nearest decimal point, penny or 
unit as the case may be. 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 



37 



Sections. 


Leinster. 


Munster. 


Ulster. 


Con- 
naught. 


Ireland. 


1 Total population of Pro- 












vinces and Ireland 


1,162,044 


1.035.495 


1,581,696 


610,984 


4,390,219 


2 Total population of all 












Cities, Towns, etc., 












over i.ooo Inhabitants 


559.568 


273,022 


623,442 


51,538 


1.507.570 


Per cent, of total popu- 












lation of Provinces and 












Ireland 


48-15 


26-37 


39-42 


8-44 


34-34 


Population in Cities (ex- 












clusive of Belfast and 












Dublin) and Towns, 












etc., of over i.ooo 












Inhabitants 


254.766 


273,022 


236,495 


51.538 


815,821 


3 Population living or 












occupied on the Land . 


501,459 


639,802 


828,774 


520,911 


2,490,946 


Percentage on the Land 












of total population 


43-15 


61-79 


52-40 


85-26 


56-74 


Total Families on the 












Land 


108,560 


122,818 


185,640 


105,415 


522,433 


4 Total Agricultural Hold- 












ings 


114,127 


126,248 


179,388 


115.912 


535.675 


5 Number of Agricultural 












Holdings at different 












Valuations : 












Not exceeding ;^I5. 


69,800 


79,338 


124,367 


99,807 


373.312 


Over £15, not exceeding 












;^30 


19.314 


22,410 


33,131 


9.930 


84,785 


.. iio ., ;^50 


10,276 


11,852 


12,608 


2,824 


37,560 


„ ;^50 „ l^oo 


8.334 


8,652 


6,972 


1,988 


25.946 


,. i^oo „ ;^300 


5,423 


3,639 


2,062 


1,171 


12,295 


„ ^£300 .... 


980 


357 


248 


192 


1.777 


Percentages of total 












Agricultural Holdings 


■ 










in Provinces : 












Holdings not exceeding 












« £^5 


6i-i6 


62-84 


69-33 


86-11 


— 


Over 5^15 „ £zo 


16-92 


17-75 


18-47 


8-57 


— . 


.. £lo „ l5o 


9'Oi 


9-39 


7-03 


2-44 


— 


.. ^50 „ ;^I00 


7-30 


6-86 


3-89 


1-71 


— 


» ;^loo „ ;^300 


4-75 


2-88 


I-I4 


I-OI 


— 


„ ;^300 .... 


•86 


-28 


•14 


•16 


— 



38 IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 



TABLE II 

TOTAL RATEABLE VALUATION OF AGRICULTURAL 
HOLDINGS. INCOME TAX ASSESSMENT ON LAND, 
BUSINESS PREMISES, FACTORIES, DWELLINGS, SITES, 

ETC. 



THE VALUATION OF AGRICULTURAL HOLDINGS IN ULSTER PER 
HOLDING IS LESS THAN IN LEINSTER OR MUNSTER. 

THE INCOME TAX ASSESSMENT ON LAND AND ON ALL CLASSES 
OF PROPERTY IN ULSTER IS LESS PER HEAD OF TOTAL POPULA- 
TION THAN IN LEINSTER OR MUNSTER. 



The total amounts of rateable valuation and Income Tax 
Assessment, also the ratios per holding, per capita and family 
shown in Sections 6 and 7, should be read in conjunction 
with the figures in Sections 3 and 4 in Table 1. 

In connection with the Income Tax (Schedules A and B) 
Assessment shown in Section 8, it is of note that though 
Ulster had a population of 419,652 in excess of Leinster the 
Income Tax Assessment was only £346,944 higher. The 
assessment per head of Leinster is higher in a marked degree 
than that of Ulster, namely £5 Is. 4d. compared with 
£3 18s. lOd., but. County Donegal being so lowly assessed 
per capita, it may be considered unfair to include this County 
in Ulster to the detriment in assessment of the other Counties. 
If, then, Donegal be excluded from Ulster for this calcu- 
lation the rate would be increased to £4 2s. 8d. per head. 
Before passing from this section it might be noted that if 
Munster be treated in a similar way by excluding County 
Kerry the rate for Munster per head would thereby be 
increased to £4 7s. lid. 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 



39 



Sections. 


Leinster. 


Munstcr. 


Ulster. 


Connaught. 


Ireland. 


6 Total Rateable 






1 






Valuation of 












Agricultural 
Holdings 
Average Valua- 
tion per Holding 


[16 


;^2,7I2,689 

[II I 
^^21 9 9 


^-',930,236 ;^i, 280,078 ';(;io,o38,864 

[19 I [98 [15 TO 

/16 6 9 ;^II 10 ;ri8 14 10 


7 Income Tax Gross 










Assessment un- 




1 






der Schedules A ( i ) 
and B on Farm, 












and other Lands, 




1 






Farm Houses, etc. 
Per Head of 


;^3,990,26o 


;£3,45i,690 i;3,789,9:8 


;^i,693,045 


;^I2,924,933 


Land popula- 
tion .... 
Per Family of 
Land popula- 
tion .... 


il 19 2 

ii^ 15 2 


i5 7 11 i^ " 5 
£2% 2 I ;^20 8 4 


il 5 Q 
ii<3 1 3 


;^5 3 9 

i■2■^ 14 9 


8 Income Tax Gross 










Assessment on 




1 






Land, Business 










Premises, Fac- 












tories, Sites, 












Dwellings, etc., 
under Schedules 












A and B, year 
1910-1911^. 
Per capita of 


^5.889,983 


;^4,220,79S 


;{6,236,927 


^1,855.261 


;^i8,202,969 


total population. 


ib I 4 


A I 6 


il 18 10 


;^3 9 


£4 2 II 



^ For a summary of the "Explanatory Memorandum " attached to the 
White Paper Returns by the Income Tax Authorities, see Appendix, page 94. 



The compiler applied to the Income Tax authorities, with- 
out result, for a summary of the Income Tax returns under 
Schedules D and E for the Provinces. After considerable 
delay, he was informed that they could not be furnished. 



40 IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 



TABLE in 

EMIGRATION STATISTICS FOR TWO PERIODS— 1851- 
1913 AND 1909-1913. 

The emigration statistics show that Ulster lost through 
emigration in the five years 1909-1913, 74 more of her popula- 
tion than Leinster and Munster together lost, and 4,880 more 
than Leinster and Connaught together. 

Of the total emigrants from Ireland in the five years 
under review, 72-96 per cent, went to the United States and 
16-71 to Canada. 

In seeking the emigration figures for 1913, the compiler 
found in the same Blue Book the emigration statistics from 
May 1, 1851, to the end of 1913. Though they did not come 
within the five years he was investigating, he was so surprised 
at the great number of emigrants from Ulster that he decided 
to include them. He has arranged a Table, for the two periods, 
which shows the number of emigrants from each county. 

It will be seen that Ulster lost of her population from 
May 1, 1851, to December 31, 1913, 488,727 more than Lein- 
ster ; and 504,991 more than Connaught. Munster lost 255,426 
more than Ulster. County Cork showed the greatest number 
of emigrants, and Antrim was second in that respect. County 
Wicklow had the least num'oer of emigrants. 

County Dublin (including the City) had the lowest per- 
centage in Ireland of emigrants to population, viz., 29 
per cent, for the period from 1851 to end of 1913 — as 
estimated by the Emigration Authorities on the basis of the 
different Census returns from 1851 to 1911 inclusive. 

County Down had the lowest percentage of any Ulster 
County, viz. 54-5. It is thus seen that the percentage for 
Dublin was 25 5 lower than that of the lowest of the Ulster 
counties. 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 



41 



Six Counties in Ulster showed a higher percentage of 
emigrants to p(H)ulation than County Donegal. The two 
exceptions— Down and Armagh — showed a percentage of 12-9 
and 1-2 respectively lower than County Donegal. 

The foregoing facts in connection with the emigration 
from Donegal completely expose the fallacy that to Donegal 
is attributable the high emigration from Ulster. 

One cannot help thinking, in view of the extraordinary 
emigration figures of Ulster, that if, in the past, it had not 
enjoyed the monopoly of the "Tenant Right" system of 
land tenure, the number of its emigrants would have^ exceeded 
those of Munster. Munster's emigration was mainly caused 
by famines and evictions — the latter being so frequent, as 
history indicates, that special machinery was devised to level 
the houses of evicted tenants to prevent re-entry. 



Sections. 


Leinster. 


Munster. 


Ulster. 


Con- 
naught. 


Ireland. 


9 Emigration : Number 
of Emigrants in the 
5 years 1909-1913 in- 
clusive 


20,359 


38,677 


59,110 


33,871 


152,017 


10 Emigrants from May 
I, 1 85 1, to December 
31, 1913 .... 
The figures do not 
include 110,739, Coun- 
ty not specified, nor 
50,234 persons not 
belonging to Ireland 
who embarked there 
since 1858. 


737.743 


1,481,896 


1,226,470 


721,479 


4,167.588 


Per cent, of popula- 
tion estimated on 
Census returns, 1851, 
'61, '71, '81, '91, 
1901, '11 . 


55-8 


1 10-5 


69-9 


906 


79 -9 



42 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 



TABLE IV 

EMIGRATION TABLE SHOWING THE NUMBER OF 
EMIGRANTS FROM EACH COUNTY IN IRELAND FOR 
THE TWO PERIODS— 1851-1913, 1909-1913— AND THEIR 
PERCENTAGE TO THE POPULATION FOR THE PERIOD 
1851-1913. THE PERCENTAGE IS ON THE ESTIMATED 
POPULATION BASED BY THE EMIGRATION AUTHOR- 
ITIES ON THE CENSUS RETURNS OF 1851-61-71-81-91- 
1901 AND 1911. 

It should be noted that the figures for each County include 
all emigrants from the County Boroughs and other Urban 
Centres. 



Leinster 

Counties, 

etc. 



Dublin. 
Kilkenny 
Wexford 
Meath . 
Longford 
King's . 
Queen's . 
Westmeath 
Louth . 
Kildare 
Carlow . 
Wicklow • 



Total 



Munster. 

Cork . . 
Kerry . 
Tipperary . 
Limerick . 
Clare . 
Waterford . 



Emi- 
grants 
from 
1851- 
1913- 



123,864 
77,920 
75.670 
69,205 
62,667 
62,185 
59,824 

53.415 
46,986 

39.354 
35>26o 

31,393 



737,743 



Total 



552.748 
239,764 
221,146 
191.843 
167,642 
108,753 



1,481,896 



Per ; Emi- 

Cent. I grants, 

of ; 1909- 



Pop. 
1851- 
I9I3- 



29-0 
74-3 
58-9 
75-2 
1037 
8i-5 
78-7 
69-3 
58-6 

503 
72-9 

42-4 



55-^ 



II2-3 

125-0 
104-2 

103-3 
116-2 

947 



IIO-5 



1913 
inclu- 
sive. 



4.783 
1. 717 
1,207 

1.414 
2,228 

1.454 
I,ci8 
1,000 
2,017 

1.463 
1,065 



20,359 



13,258 
8,960 
3.963 
4.4^5 
5.540 
2.541 



38,677 







Per 


Emi- 


Ulster 
Counties, 


Emi- 
grants, 


Cent, 
of 


grants, 
1909- 


etc. 


1851- 


Pop. 


1913 


1913- 


1851- 


inclu- 






1913- 


sive. 


Antrim ^ 


294,866 


707 


17,308 


Dowr ^ . 


160,922 


54-5 


",435 


TyTox.e 1 . 


148,386 


757 


5,522 


Donegal . 


139,210 


67-4 


6,933 


Cavan . 


123,803 


96-4 


4,299 


Londonderry^ 


114,928 


69-8 


4.594 


Armagh ^ . 


105,778 


66-2 


4-737 


Monaghan . 


79.444 


77-4 


2,157 


Fermanagh . 


59,133 


68-8 


2,125 


Total . 


1,226,470 


69-9 


59.110 


1 Counties 


claimed b 


y Unio nists. 


Connaught. 








Galway . 


233.650 


97.6 


10,583 


Mayo 


201,474 


86-5 


12,176 


Roscommon 


115.550 


88-4 


5,722 


Sligo . . 


86,038 


81-2 


3.697 


Leitrim . 


84.767 


96-6 


3,693 


Total 


721,479 


90-6 


33,871 



The percentages (with the exception of that for Ireland) shown in 
Tables III and IV, are those given in the Government Emigration Table 
for the years 1851-1913. See Appendix, page 93. 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 43 

The emigration figures from May 1, 1851, to December 31, 
1913, do not include 110,739 emigrants for whom the author- 
ities were unable to assign a county, nor 50,234 who embarked 
in Ireland but belonged to other countries. Excluding the 
50,234, the number of emigrants who left Ireland between 
the above-mentioned dates amounted to 4,278,327. This 
number showed 82 per cent, of the estimated population. 

Of the Ulster Counties claimed by the Unionist minority, 
Antrim lost by emigration more than any of 22 Counties 
outside Ulster; Down and Tyrone each lost more than 
any of 16 ; Londonderry more than 14, and Armagh more 
than any of 13. On comparing them with all the Irish 
Counties, it is found that 30 of the 32 Counties in Ireland 
lost less by emigration than Antrim, 23 lost less than 
Down, 22 less than Tyrone, 17 less than Londonderry, and 15 
less than Armagh. 



TABLE V 

MONEYS PAID BY RATEPAYERS FOR AGRICULTURAL 
AND TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION. 



LEINSTER RAISED BY RATES £13 2s. 5d. PER 100 OF HER LAND 
POPULATION AND £8 13s. 2d. PER 100 OF HER TOTAL POPULA- 
TION FOR AGRICULTURAL AND TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION. 

ULSTER RAISED BY RATES £7 lis. 4d. PER 100 OP HER LAND 
POPULATION AND £6 15s. lid. PER 100 OF HER TOTAL POPULA- 
TION FOR AGRICULTURAL AND TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION. 



Of the moneys raised by rates for Agricultural and 
Technical Instruction as shown in Section 11, the population 
(828,774) of rural Ulster contributed £62,704 ; with a less 
rural population (501,459) Leinster contributed £65,786. 

Of the Urban District Councils' populations, that of Pem- 
broke (Co. Dublin) collected the highest rate, viz. £18 13s. 6d. 
per 100 of the population. The town of Tralee in County Kerry 
and Pembroke levied a rate of twopence in the £ for each 



44 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 



o! the Ave financial years 1909-10-1913-14 under review. 
They were the only authorities in Ireland that collected that 
rate for the entire period. 



Sections. 


Leinster. 


Munster. 


Ulster. 


Con- 
naught. 


Ireland. 


II Agricultural and Tech- 
nical Instruction : 

Moneys paid by Rate- 
payers during the five 
years 1909-10-13-14 

Per 100 of population. 


i;ioo,595 
i^ 13 2 


;^67,468 
£6 10 4 

;^I0,920 

^4 6 2 


/i07,505 
l(^ 15 II 


;^30,242 

£'\ 19 


;^305,8io 
£^ 19 4 


12 Technical Instruction : 
Moneys paid by Rate- 
payers in Urban Dis- 
tricts (exclusive of 
Belfast and Dubhn) 
included in previous 

section 

Per 100 of population. 


;^i6,775 

£l 14 2 


;£ll.322 

£5 i 9 


;^i,837 
i^ 8 3 


;^40.854 
15 11 9 



The Rate contribution for Technical Instruction, per 100 
of her population, by Belfast was £2 14s. 8d. in excess of that 
of Dublin. The Rate contribution by "Pembroke" (divided 
from Dublin only by the length of a Canal Bridge), for the 
same purpose, per 100 of her population, was £10 Os. 6d. in 
excess of that of Belfast. 

The County Borough contributions for Technical Instruction 
included in Section 11 were as follows, per 100 of then: respective 
populations : Belfast, £8 13s. ; Dublin, £5 IBs. 4d. ; London- 
derry, £5 15s. 3d. ; Cork £5 13s. 7d. ; and Cork, Limerick 
and Waterford together, £4 14s. 3d. 

The difficulty of comparing statistically the cities of Belfast 
and Dublin is made clear by the letter received by the com- 
piler from the Registrar- General for Ireland, Sir WilUam J. 
Thompson, a copy of which will be found on page 58. The 
Technical Rate contribution of Pembroke (mentioned above) 
and other places referred to in the letter, if credited to Dublin 
City, the contributions of that city per cent, of population 
would be very much increased. The compiler, however, 
deahng with figures extracted from Government pubUcations, 
has not felt himself at liberty to allocate them to any but the 
districts named in the Blue Books and White Papers. 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 45 

The compiler, desiring to know something of the opposi- 
tion to the extension of the boundaries of the city of DubUn 
has referred to the proceedings before the Joint Committee 
of the Lords and Commons in 1900. It appears that one of 
the opponents was the chief ground landlord of Pembroke, 
the Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery. The Earl and his 
agent gave evidence, the latter stated the valuation of 
the Earl's Pembroke Estate was £77,000 out of a total 
valuation of £106,000 for the Township ^ ; Trinity College 
also opposed the Extension Bill. The singular part of the 
opposition was its composition. The majority of the Committee 
were Unionists ^ ; "The Irish Times," which used its influence 
against the Bill, is the principal Unionist organ outside Ulster. 
Trinity College returns two Unionists to Parhament ; and as 
far as the compiler could trace, it was a case of Unionists 
versus Nationalists. The supporters of the Union of countries 
divided by the Irish Sea were opponents to the Union of a 
City and its suburbs connected by canal bridges. 

Extracts from the Committee's report and from an article in 
*' The Irish Times " on the report will be found in the Appendix. 

Vide "The Irish Times," 12th July, 1900. 
* Vide "Dod's Parliamentary Companion." 



46 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 



TABLE VI 

UNIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIPS, EXHIBITIONS AND 
BURSARIES. 

MONEYS PAID BY TWENTY-SIX COUNTY COUNCILS AND 
THREE COUNTY BOROUGHS FOR UNIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIPS, ETC., 
UNDER THE IRISH UNIVERSITIES' ACT, 1908, AS SHOWN IN THE 
LOCAL TAXATION (IRELAND) RETURNS FOR THE FINANCIAL 
YEARS, APRIL 1, 1911, TO MARCH 31, 1914. 



(6 COUNTIES IN ULSTER AND 1 IN LEINSTER MADE NO PAYMENTS.) 



Leinster. 



Dublin, C.B. 
Wicklow 
Kildare 
King's . 
Queen's 
Louth . 
Wexford 
Westmeath 
Meath . 
Dublin . 
Carlow . 
Kilkenny 
Longford 



776 
656 
609 
560 

523 
462 
416 
409 

367 
300 
266 
Nil 



;^7.o5i 



Munster. 



Tipperary 
Cork . 
Kerry . 
Limerick 
Clare . 
Waterford 
Waterford, 
C.B. . 



:^i,69i 

1,588 

840 

603 

439 
200 

172 



Ulster. 



;£5,533 



Donegal . i\nbb 
Monaghan . 
Belfast, C.B. 
Tyrone 
Antrim 
Armagh . 
DowTi . 
Londonderry 
Cavan . 
Fernianagh 



727 

165 
40 
Nil 
Nil 
Nil 
NU 
Nil 
Nil 



i^fi^l 



C.B. denotes County Borough. 



Connaught. 



Roscommon ;^i,38o 
Galv/ay . 1,302 
Sligo . . 977 

Mayo . . 790 

Leitrim . 230 



;^4.679 



The first moneys shown in the returns were for the year ended March 
31st, 1912. Tipperary has two County Councils ; one for the North, and 
one for the South, Riding. 

The amounts paid by each Province and by Ireland, as 
a whole, per 1,000 of population were : Leinster, £6 Is. 4d. ; 
Munster, £5 6s. lOd. ; Ulster, £1 14s. ; Connaught £7 13s. 2d, ; 
and by Ireland, £4 10s. lid. 

What these figures indicate will not surprise readers of 
history, who, unfortunately, are far from numerous in this 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 47 

country. To siudents of Irish history it is common knowledge 
that Europe benefited in the early centuries of our era from 
the erudition and educational labours of Irish professors and 
missionari«»s ; they know that Irish CathoUcs, under the 
intensely paralysing effects of the fearful penal enactments 
of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when they were 
treated practically as slaves, showed such determination 
not to lose the ennobling effects of the educational work of 
their forefathers, that, at the risk of their hves, they gave sup- 
port to those actively engaged in the preservation of invaluable 
manuscripts and in the diffusion of education in the proscribed 
Irish language — until then the language of the majority of 
the people. 



48 IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 



TABLE VII 

STATISTICS OF TOTAL BIRTHS AND DEATHS; ILLE- 
GITIMATE BIRTHS; DEATHS OF INFANTS; DEATHS 
FROM TUBERCULOSIS. 

MONEYS PAID BY COUNTY COUNCILS FOR THE TREATMENT OP 

TUBERCULOSIS. 



Of the 6,952 illegitimate births in Ulster, the Anti-Irish- 
Rule portion of the Province was responsible for 5,588 — 
see Ulster Table. These figures mean that in Connaught 
there were 5,117, in Munster 2,876, and in Leinster 1,659 
less illegitimate births during the period under review than 
in the Anti-Irish-Rule Counties of Ulster. Belfast accounted 
for 2,217 ; Antrim (22,314 births), 1,231 ; Down, 890 ; 
Londonderry, 757 ; and Armagh (13,426 births), 493. The 
Pro-Irish-Rule Counties had 1,364 to their debit. Tyrone, 
the County claimed by the Anti-Irish-Rule party, was at the 
top with 572 ; Donegal (18,794 births) had 315 ; Fermanagh 
201 ; Monaghan 142, and Cavan 134. 

The ratio for Antrim of 55 "illegitimates" per 1,000 
births was not, seemingly, an unusual one. A work by Mr. 
J. A. Fox, published in 1887, gives 58 as the rate for the year 
1885. In the same year the rate for Connaught is given as 
9 per 1,000. 

A couple of Ulster Counties compared with Connaught give 
cause for serious reflection. In Armagh the lowest number 
of illegitimate births in Anti-Irish-Rule Ulster was recorded, 
yet with 54,032 less births in that County, there were 22 more 
illegitimate births than in the entire Province of Connaught. 
Antrim with 45,144 less births than Connaught had 760 more 
illegitimate births. 

Belfast and Antrim had 736 more illegitimate births 
than had the Province of Munster. 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 



49 



Sections. 


Leinster. 


Munster. 


Ulster. 


Con- 
naught. 


Ireland. 


13 Births : Total Births 
for the five years, 
1909-13 .... 


136,354 


117.124 


186,673 


67.458 


507,609 


14 Illegitimate Births : 
Total five years, 1909- 

13 

Per Cent, of total 
Births 


3.929 
2-88 


2,712 
2-32 


6,952 
372 


471 
0-70 


14,064 

2-77 


15 Deaths : Total 1 909-1 3 


106,565 


81,949 


136,928 


43.781 


369,223 


16 Deaths of Infants under 1 
Total 1909-13 
Per Cent, of Births . 


15.377 

11-28 


10,037 
8-57 


17,712 
9-49 


3.930 47.056 
5-^i 9-27 


17 Tuberculosis : Deaths 
in 1913 .... 


2,932 


2,195 


3.347 


913 9.387 


18 Moneys paid by County 
Councils for Treatment 
of Tuberculosis, 19 1 3- 1 4 
Per 1,000 of population 


;^2,720 
Iz 6 10 


1 

;£5.039 ;^2,266 
;^4 17 4.;^! 8 8 


;^i,465 ;^ii,490 
ii 8 : ^2 12 4 



Leinster had the highest death-rate for infants under 
one year, owing, in a great measure, no doubt, to the deplorable 
congestion of the housing conditions within the confined 
hmits of the City of Dublin. Compared with the Province 
of Ulster her excess per 1,000 births was nearly 18, and not 
quite 6, as against the Anti-Irish-Rule postion of Ulster. 

Connaught holds the best record ; her loss per 1,000 
births was between 36 and 37 less than that of Ulster. 
Compared with North-East Ulster, Connaught' s loss was 
between 48 and 49 less per 1,000 bu^ths. Munster was second 
to Connaught, and showed a loss of 21 less than North-East 
Ulster. 

Tuberculosis has been dealt with only for the year 1913, as 
1913-14 was the first year moneys paid by County Councils, etc., 
for its treatment were recorded separately in the Local Taxation 
returns. Connaught shows the lowest percentage of deaths. 
Munster' s contribution for the treatment of this fell disease 
is worthy of remark. She paid per 1,000 of her population 
over three times the rate paid by Ulster, and nearly six 
times the rate of North-East Ulster. 



50 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 



TABLE VIII 
STATISTICS OF RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS IN IRELAND. 
316 DIFFERENT RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS IN IRELAND IN 1911. 

In the 1911 Census returns there were recorded 316 different 
religious denominations in Ireland. The term non-Catholic 
includes all creeds other than Catholics. 

The figures in connection with Clergymen are quite the 
reverse of what the compiler was led to expect ; in and out 
of season he had been accustomed to hear when any discussion 
arose about Ireland that the Catholic clergymen overran 
the country, and that, as there were so many of them with so 
little to do and each of them with so few persons to look after 
spiritually, to fill up their time they made a pastime of pohtics. 
He has, as a matter of fact, found quite the opposite, as the 
figures below from the 1911 Census returns show that the 
Episcopalians, in proportion to their numbers, had two and a 
quarter times and the Methodists three times more clergymen 
than had the Catholics. In other words, a Catholic clergyman 
had, on an average, 460 more persons to look after than had 
an Episcopalian clergyman, and 570 more than a Methodist 
clergyman, and 166 more than a Presbyterian clergyman. 



SECTION 19.— RATIO OF CLERGYMEN TO MEMBERS OF RELIGIOUS 
DENOMINATIONS. 

20.— CATHOLIC AND NON-CATHOLIC POPULATIONS. 

21.— CATHOLIC AND NON-CATHOLIC CLERGYMEN. 

22.— CATHOLIC AND NON-CATHOLIC UNPAID MAGIS- 
TRATES. 







Per Cent. 






19 Denominations. 


Members. 


of Popu- 


Clergy- 


Ratio to 






lation. 


men. 


Members. 


i Catholics . 


3,242,670 


73-86 


3.924 


I to 826 


Episcopalians 


576,611 


13-I3 


1.575 


I to 366 


' Methodists 


62,382 


1-42 


244 


I to 256 


Presbyterians 


440.525 


10-04 


667 


I to 660 


All Others . . . 


68,031 


1-55 


171 


I to 398 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 51 

TABLE VIII — continued 



Sections. 


Leinster. 


Munster. 


Ulster. 


Con- 
naught. 


Ireland. 


20 Catholic population 
Per Cent, of total do. . 


990,045 
85-2 


973.805 
94-0 


690,816 
43-7 


588,004 
96-2 


3,242,670 
73-9 


Non-Catholic population 
Per Cent, of total do. . 


171,999 
14-8 


6i,6go 
6-0 


890,880 
56-3 


22,980 
3-8 


1. 147. 549 

26-1 


21 Clergymen ; 

Catholic Clergymen . 
Per 10,000 Catholics 


— 


— 


— 


— 


3.924 

I2-IO 


Non-Catholic Clergymen 
Per 10,000 non-Catho- 
lics 


— 


— 


— 


— 


2,657 
23-15 


22 Magistrates — unpaid 
(at the end of 1913) : 
Catholic Magistrates 
Per 10,000 Catholics 


773 
7-88 


727 
7-47 


775 

11-22 


328 
5-58 


2,603 
8-03 


Non-Catholic Magis- 
trates 

Per 10,000 non-Catho- 
lics 


1,108 
64-42 


769 
124-66 


1.546 
17-35 


338 
147-08 


3.761 

32-77 



The great disparity shown between the appointments of 
Catholic and non-Catholic Magistrates should claim the atten- 
tion of the reader. 



52 IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 



STATISTICS OF ILLITERACY. 

ULSTER HAD A HIGHER PERCENTAGE THAN LEINSTER OR 
MUNSTER OF PERSONS WHO COULD -NEITHER READ NOR 
WRITE " BETWEEN THE AGES OF 9 AND 21 AND 9 AND 40 ; AND 
ALSO HIGHER THAN THE AVERAGE OF ALL IRELAND. 



The compiler has analysed the 1911 Census of persons who 
could " neither read nor write." For the purpose oi compari- 
son he has arranged them in groups of different ages, as 
follows : — 

(a) Persons of 9 years of age and of " all ages " over 9. " All 

ages " is the term applied below to this group. 

(b) Persons between the ages of 9 and 21. 

(c) Persons between the ages of 9 and 40. 

(d) Persons between the ages of 21 and 40. 

(e) Persons of 40 years of age and upwards. 

Groups (b) and (c) include all persons of 9, but not those of 21 and 40« 
years of age, respectively. 

Group (d) includes all persons of 21, but not those of 40, years of age. 

Persons of " all ages " in Ulster (excluding County Donegal), 
who could " Neither Read nor Write," numbered 84,225. 

County Dublin had a lower percentage of "ilhterates" 
than the lowest percentage of any Ulster County in the 
" all ages " group. The highest percentage of 9 Leinster 
Counties in the " all ages " group was lower than the lowest 
of 7 Ulster Counties. The highest percentage shown by 
any of the 12 Leinster Counties was lower than the lowest 
of 3 Ulster Counties. The percentage of each of the 
Counties of Clare, Limerick and Tipperai'y in the '* all 
ages " group of illiterates was lower than the lowest of 
7 Ulster Counties. The percentage of Leitrim, in Con- 
naught, was also lower than the lowest of 7 Ulster 
Counties. 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 53 

To make it perfectly clear and free from any misconcep- 
tion, the results will be put in another form. Ulster had 
only 2 Counties with a lower percentage of "illiterates" 
than that of Leitrim. Seven Counties in Ulster had each 
of them a higher percentage of illiterates than the highest 
percentage of any one of 9 Counties in Leinster, and of 3 
Counties in Munster. 



Ulster outdistanced by Munster and Connaught counties in 
their strides to gain the advantages of the first elements of 
elementary education. County Kerry in the 9-40 age group 
better than 7 Ulster counties. County Sligo in the 9-21 age 
group better than 6 Ulster counties. 



The percentages of illiterates between the ages of 9 and 21 
and 9 and 40 in each of 8 Ulster Counties were greater than 
the percentages of each of the Munster Counties of Clare, 
Cork, Limerick and Tipperary ; and those of each of 7 
Ulster Counties were greater than those of the County of 
Kerry. 

In the case of Connaught, in the 9-21 group, 7 Ulster 
Counties had each a higher percentage than that of 
Leitrim or Roscommon and, in the 9-40 group, 8 Ulster 
Counties had a higher percentage than either Leitrim 
or Roscommon. Six Ulster Counties in the 9-21 group 
and 7 in the 9-40 group had higher percentages than those of 
Sligo County in the same groups. 

The 23 counties outside Ulster showed, in 1911, lower 
average percentages of illiterates in the 9-21 and 9-40 age 
groups than the averages of Armagh, Down, Londonderry and 
Tyrone counties. 

Though " too old at forty " belongs to the fallacies of the 
past, in connection with the first elements of elementary educa- 
tion the percentages of ilhterates between the ages of 9 and 



54 IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 

21 and 9 and 40 are oi greater interest as affecting the future 
of Ireland. With this point in view, a Table has been 
compiled of comparative iUiteracy between groups of Ulster 
Counties (except Donegal) and Counties in the other Pro- 
vinces. It upsets the theory of the oft-told tale that if Ulster 
had not the handicap of County Donegal, its relative sta- 
tistics would eclipse those of the other Provinces. 

The exclusion of County Donegal does not mean that 
it had exceptionally high percentages in the 9-21 and 9-40 
age groups. Its percentage for the 9-21 was 2-41 and for the 
9-40 group 3 87 per cent, higher than the percentages of 
Armagh, Londonderry and Tyrone together. The compari- 
son does not seem unfavourable in view of the inacces- 
sibility of schools in some of the wild and mountainous parts 
of Donegal. 

The Uhteracy Table will be found worthy of more than 
passing notice. In it will be seen that the Ulster Counties 
of Antrim, Armagh, Down and Londonderry, with the 
City of Belfast, had higher percentages of persons, 
between the ages of 9 and 21 and 9 and 40, who could " neither 
read nor write " at the date of the 1911 Census than had the 
Counties of Leitrim and Roscommon in the Province of 
Connaught. In the 9-21 age stage, a group of 3 of the 5 
Connaught Counties had a percentage just '01 lower than 
that of the above-named Ulster Counties. When it is 
remembered that this is the group of Ulster Counties of 
which so much propaganda has been spread broadcast 
in England to the detriment of the other Provinces, one 
is not prepared to find the educational conditions shown by 
the Census. It is difficult, after having had dinned into one's 
ears for years that Ulster set the whole country an example 
in educational progress, to credit the figures when first seen 
that show the reverse. It is not easy to understand why the 
other Provinces have allowed these statements to pass unchal- 
lenged. 

In the 1911 Census returns it is plain for every one to see 
that the average percentages of illiterates between 9 and 21 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 



55 



and 9 and 40 in all the Counties outside Ulster — 23 — were 
lower than the average percentages of the Ulster Counties 
of Armagh, Down, Londonderry and Tyrone. The 23 include 
such Counties as Mayo, Galway, Kerry and Cork where, 
in many parts of them, schools are at great distances from 
the homes of the pupils. 

The 1911 Census returns also show that the average per- 
centage of illiterates (between the ages of 9 and 21) of the 
total number of persons T)etween 9 and 21 in the following 
Counties— all outside Ulster— Carlow, Clare, Cork, Dublin, 
Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Leitrim, Limerick, Meath, Queen's, 
Tipperary, Roscommon and V/estmeath, was lower than the 
percentage of ilHterates on precisely the same basis in the 
Counties of Antrim and Down, including the County Borough 
of Belfast. 



TABLE IX 

COMPARISON BY PROVINCES OF ILLITERATES IN 
DIFFERENT AGE GROUPS. 

The following Comparative Numbers and Percentages of 
lUiterates in the Provinces are instructive. The Percentages 
have been calculated on the population of the different Age 
Groups shown in the 1911 Census. 



Age Groups. 


Lein- Per 
ster. Cent. 


Mun- Per x,, ,^^ Per 

„ ^ Ulster. ^ 
ster. Cent. ■ Cent. 


• 
Con- Per 
naught. Cent. 


Between 9 and 21 

,, 21 and 40 

40 years and over 


5.317 
12,824 

47.671 


2-o6 

3-65 

I3"55 


3.874 

9,762 

63,481 


1-59 7.638 

3-39 19,600 

20-0I 85,333 


2-o8 

4-55 
17-26 


4,280 

9,004 

62,533 


2-8l 

628 
30-85 


Total Illiterates. 


65,812 


77,117 112,571 


75,817 



56 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 



TABLE X 

ILLITERACY TABLE SHOWING THE TOTAL NUMBEE 
OF PERSONS BETWEEN THE AGES OF 9 AND 21 AND 
9 AND 40, AND THE NUMBER OF ILLITERATES AND 
THEIR PERCENTAGE OF THE POPULATION IN DIFFERENT 
GROUPS OF COUNTIES (COUNTY BOROUGHS— EXCEPT 
BELFAST— NOT INCLUDED). 



Ulster Counties 
(exclusive of 
Co. Donegal). 



Between | Between 
19 and 219 and 40 



Years 
of Age. 



Years 
of Age. 



Antrim, Armagh and^ ' 

Down : ■ i 

Total Persons . 121,063 ' 258,134 



,, Illiterates. 
Percentage . 



Antrim, Armagh, 
Belfast, Down 
and London- 
derry : 
Total Persons . 
Illiterates. 
Percentage . 

Antrim, Armagh, 
Belfast, Down, 
Londonderry • 
and Tyrone : 
Total Persons . 
,, Illiterates. 
Percentage . 

Cavan and Mona- 
ghan : 
Total Persons 

Illiterates. 
Percentage . 

Cavan, Fermanagh 

and Monaghan 

Total Persons . 

Illiterates. 

Percentage . 

Armagh, London- 
derry and 
Tyrone ; 
Total Persons . 
,, Illiterates. 
Percentage . 



1,833 
151 



237,144 
3.743 
1 58 



268,447 

4.5" 
1-68 



7,028 
272 



520,410 
12,989 
2-50 



588,727 
16,152 
2-74 



Munster, Leinster 

and Connaught 

Counties. 



I Between 
I9 and 21 
i Years 
I of Age. 



Between 

9 and 40 

Years 

of Age. 



Cork and Tipper- 

ary : 
Total Persons * 
Illiterates 
Percentage . 



Dublin, Kilkenny 
and Meath : 



Total Persons . 
Illiterates. 
Percentage . 



108,419 

1.377 
1-27 



Clare, Cork, Kerry, 
Limerick and 
Tipperary : 

Total Persons . 

Illiterates 

Percentage . 



68,575 
891 
1-30 



197,478 
2,645 
1-34 



241,416 

4.794 
1-99 



164.535 
2,994 
1-82 



424,697 
9,352 
2-20 



35,804 

686 
1-92 

49,150 
981 
2 00 


77,168 
2,512 
3-26 


106,313 
3.603 
3-39 


82,120 
1,972 
2-40 


174,802 
7.583 
4-34 



Leitrim and Ros- 
common : 
Total Persons . 

Illiterates . 
Percentage . 

Leitrim, Roscom- 
mon and Sligo 
Total Persons . 
Illiterates. 
Percentage . 



Leitrim, Mayo, Ros- 
common and 
Sligo : 

Total Persons . 
,, Illiterates. 

Percentage . 




205,871 
7,602 
8-69 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 



57 



ILLITERACY IN BELFAST COMPARED WITH THAT OF 
COUNTIES IN LEINSTER, MUNSTER AND CONNAUGHT. 

An analysis of the 1911 Census returns of illiterates between 
the ages of 9 and 21 shows that the percentage of 1-52 of 
illiterates, between these ages, in Belfast was higher than 
that of each of the 13 Counties (all outside Ulster) named below. 

Cork, Kilkenny and Queen's Counties showed each a per- 
centage not above 1-23 ; Clare, Dublin, Limerick and Tipperary 
showed each a percentage not above 1-36 ; Carlow, Kildare, 
Leitrim, Meath and Roscommon each not above 1*42. West- 
meath, the 13th County, showed a percentage of 1-51. County 
Kerry was only 01 higher than that of Belfast. 

The analysis shows also that the average percentage of 
illiterates, between the same ages, in 20 of the 23 Counties 
outside Ulster was lower than that of Belfast. 



TABLE XI 

DAILY ABSENTEE PUPILS FROM THE NATIONAL PUBLIC 
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN IRELAND. 

The figures for four years have been taken from the Educa- 
tion Reports, but as the 80th Report has not been published, 
the figures for the fifth year have been received direct from the 
Irish Education Office. 



The Table gives 
1909-13. 



the average daily for the five years- 



The daily average of absentee pupils from the PubUc Ele- 
mentary Schools in Ulster compared with other Provinces 
is worthy of note. 



. 


Leinster. 


Munster. 


Ulster. 


Con- 
naught. 


Ireland. 


Daily Average of Absentee 
Pupils from School, 1 909- 
13 


40,961-4 


47.II3-4 


72,752-8 


38.289-4 


199.117 



58 IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 

The letter from the Registrar-General alluded to on page 
44 — a copy of which will be seen below — shows the impossi- 
biUty of comparing statistically the County Boroughs of Belfast 
and Dublin. 

The boundaries of Belfast, unlike those of Dublin, have 
within them the residential districts of the leading and wealthi- 
est citizens. The area of the County Borough of DubUn is 
only shghtly over half that of Belfast. 

The Belfast authorities had no difficulty in obtaining Parha- 
mentary sanction to extend the boundaries of the Borough. 
The Dublin authorities, on the contrary, after incurring very 
great expenditure in promoting a Bill to extend the limits' 
of the County Borough, were refused permission by Parliament 
to include the residential districts of Rathmines and Rathgar 
and Pembroke. See Appendix, p. 92. 

General Register Office, 
Charlemont House, Dublin, 

1st October, 1919. 
Sir, — 

In reply to your letter of the 23rd ultimo, I beg to say that 
the Dublin Registration Area consists of the County Borough 
of Dublin and Urband Districts of Rathmines and Rathgar, Pem- 
broke, Blackrock and Kingstown. 

It is not an administrative unit, but an area adopted by the 
Registrar-General for Ireland, with the object of presenting a 
more accurate view of the vital statistics of the town population 
of Dublin than if the facts for the County Borough alone were 
employed. 

In order to afford comparison with urban centres like Belfast 
County Borough, therefore, figures for the Registration Area 
should be used in preference to those for the Dublin County 
Borough. 

It will be noted that the area of Belfast County Borough is 
14,937 acres, of Dublin County Borough 7,911 acres, and of 
Dublin Registration Area 13,743. 

I am, Sir, 
W. A. McKnight, Esq., Your obedient Servant, 

14-16 Inverness Terrace, William J. Thompson, 

London, W.2. Registrar-General. 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 59 

TABLE XII 

PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. 

THE REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS FOR NATIONAL EDU- 
CATION FOR THE YEAR 1912 ^ SHOWS THAT OF THE PUPILS ON 
THE SCHOOL ROLLS OF THE PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 
THROUGHOUT IRELAND, 

92 in every 1,000 Pupils were above the Fifth Standard. 

1 „ 17 „ in the Sixth Standard. 

1 „ 38 „ „ Seventh „ 

1 „ 146 „ „ Eighth „ 

THE BELFAST SCHOOL ATTENDANCE COMMITTEE'S RETURNS 
SHOW THAT IN BELFAST, IN MAY, 1919,^ THERE WERE 64,132 
PUPILS ON THE ROLLS OF 286 BELFAST SCHOOLS. THE RETURNS 
ALSO SHOW THAT THE RATIOS OF PUPILS TO STANDARDS WERE 
AS FOLLOWS :— 

33 in every 1,000 Pupils in the 286 Schools were above the 

Fifth Standard. 
1 „ 39 Pupils in the Sixth Standard. 

1 „ 156 „ „ Seventh „ 

1 „ 1,002 „ „ Eighth „ 



TABLE Xin 

HALF-TIME PUPILS. 

BELFAST AND OLDHAM COMPARED. 

A REPORT TO THE EDUCATION COMMISSIONERS IN 1914 BY 
A BELFAST SCHOOL INSPECTOR REGARDING 329 HALF-TIME 
PUPILS (OVER 12 YEARS OLD) IN A BELFAST SCHOOL STATES, 
INTER ALIA, THAT THERE WERE :— 

59 half-time Pupils in the First Standard. 
102 „ „ „ Second „ 

113 „ „ „ Third 

33 „ „ „ Fourth „ 

22 „ „ „ Fifth 

329 

^ This is the last report published respecting Standards. 
" No statistics procurable before those of May, 191 9. 



6o IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 

A REPORT PUBLISHED BY THE EDUCATION COMMITTEE OP 
THE LANCASHIRE INDUSTRIAL TOWN OF OLDHAM SHOWS THAT 
ON THE 31ST OF JANUARY, 1914, THERE WERE 1,267 HALF-TIME 
PUPILS IN THE SCHOOL^ IN THAT TOWN, AND THE NUMBER OP 
HALF-TIME PUPILS IN EACH STANDARD WAS AS FOLLOWS :— 

No Pupils in the First Standard. 
1 Pupil in the Second Standard. 



34 Pupils , 


, Third 


122 „ , 


, Fourth 


363 „ 


, Fifth 


575 „ , 


, Sixth 


171 „ , 


Seventh 


1 Pupil , 


, Ex-Seventh 



In May, 1919, there were in the Belfast Schools 1,613 
Half-time Pupils. The following extracts from letters re- 
ceived from the Secretary to the Belfast School Attendance 
Committee in reference to the above-mentioned " Half-Timers " 
indicate no improvement by half-time pupils since 1914. 

" Half-timers are generally in low Standards ; the majority 
not above Third." — November 13, 1919. 

" You may take it there is an abnormal number in low classes 
— probably 50 per cent, not above Second." — December 15, 1919. 

The compiler, to enable him to compare the educational progress of 
the " half-time" pupils of Belfast with that of the " half-time " pupils of 
other industrial centres (half-time pupils in any centre in Ireland outside 
Belfast are very few), had to seek statistics in England. He communi- 
cated with the Educational Authorities of London, Birmingham, Manches- 
ter, Salford, Leeds, Oldham, etc. The figures relating to Oldham, given 
in Table XIH, are the only ones he has been able to procure. He learned 
from the other authorities that there arc no " half-timers " in their schools. 
In Ireland and England " half-time " pupils must be over 12 years of age. 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 



6i 



TABLE XIV 

PERCENTAGES OF PERSONS "ABLE TO READ AND 

WRITE" AND WHO "SIGNED IN WRITING" THE 

MARRIAGE REGISTERS. 



ULSTER HAD A LESS PERCENTAGE OF PERSONS " ABLE TO READ 
AND WRITE." AND OF PERSONS WHO "SIGNED IN WRITING" 
THE MARRIAGE REGISTERS, THAN LEINSTER OR MUNSTER. 



Sections. 


Lein- 
ster. 


Mun- 
ster. 


Ulster. 


Con- 
naught. 


Ireland. 


Percentage of Persons nine years 
of age and over ' ' Able to Read 
and Write" as per 191 1 
Census 


90-5 


88-8 


87-0 
93-18 


81-6 
90-74 


87-6 


Marriage Registers : Yearly 
Average Percentage of men 
who "Signed in Writing," 
1909-13 


94-98 


95-22 


93-88 


Yearly Average Percentage of 
women who " Signed in Writ- 
ing " during the same Period 


96-50 


96-98 


94-92 


94-84 


95-8o 



The percentages of persons 9 years o£ age and over have been 
taken from 1911 Census Percentage Tables. The percentages 
from the Marriage Registers are the averages of the five 
years 1909-1913 furnished by the Returns of the Registrar- 
General for Marriages, etc. In reference to the latter, the 
Registrar-General in his Returns observes : — 

" The proportion of persons who signed their names in 
writing, as compared with those who signed by ' Mark ' in 
the Marriage Registers and Certificates, affords an interesting 
indicatioh of the degree of elementary education of the 
persons, ..." 



62 IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 

On comparing the percentages of Connaught women with 
that of Ulster men, who signed the Marriage Registers " in 
writing," one sees that the former exceed the latter by 1-66 
per cent. In the case of Ulster and Connaught women, 
the percentage was in favour of Ulster women by 08 per 
cent. It should, however, be noted that in the last year of 
average — 1913 — the percentage of Connaught women who 
signed the Marriage Registers " in writing " exceeds that of 
Ulster men by 24 and of Ulster women by -1 per cent. 

The 1911 Census Returns of persons, in the 32 Counties 
in Ireland, who were " Able to Read and Write " show that 
County Dublin heads the list with the highest percentage. 
Dublin was followed by Kildare, Tipperary, Limerick and 
Queen's Counties. Antrim and Kilkenny, being eaual, *' tied " 
for the 6th place. Of the other 8 Ulster Counties, Down 
stood 11th in the list, Cavan 18th, Fermanagh 23rd, London- 
derry 25th, Monaghan 26th ; Armagh and Tyrone, being 
equal, " tied " for the 28th place ; Donegal was 32nd. 

Of the County Boroughs, Belfast was first, followed by 
Dublin, Cork, Limerick. Londonderry and Waterford. 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 63 



BELFAST SCHOOL ACCOMMODATION. 

As the question of the School Accommodation in Belfast is 
not a new one, it may be due to the Belfast School Inspectors 
that they should receive credit for their untiring efforts to 
move the Belfast Authorities to provide proper Schools and 
Class-rooms for Belfast Children. 

Extracts from their reports dating from 1906 to 1913-14 
School Year are given below : — 

In his Report to the Commissioners of National Education 
in Ireland in 1906, Mr. P. J. Kelly observed : — 

" It is a curious fact that a prosperous and progressive city 
such as Belfast . . . should, nevertheless, be the most backward 
of the British Isles in the matter of School Accommodation. 
I venture to say that the poorest counties in Ireland are better 
off in this respect than a city which rightly prides itself on its 
wealth and enterprise and progress." 

In a Report made by Mr. E. P. Dewar, M.A., for the year 
1906-1907, it was stated :— 

" For some years past school building has practically been at a 
standstill in Belfast. . . . The churches which in other places 
are the leaders in educational movements and which in former 
times were so in Belfast, have somehow stepped down from their 
position, and taken a less prominent part in the school life of 
the city." 

" For some reason schools have not been built, and the poor 
of the city were the first to feel the loss. The classes who were 
least able to help themselves were forced to stand by and see their 
children deprived of the chance of receiving an education." 

4e Hs ;ie >|i 49 

" Turning over my notes at random, I shall give the dimen- 
sions of a few of these rooms and the number of pupils found in 
them when I visited ; also the number of pupils which could be 
accommodated in each, allowing 9 feet square for each pupil. 



Class- 


Dimensions 


Number 


room. 


in feet. 


Present. 


I 


15 X 9I X 12 


48 


2 


15 X gl X 12 


31 


3 


I3I X II X 9 


52 


4 


I2|: X 7| X 13I 


30 


5 


I2f X 7-I X I3I 


38 


6 


iii X 7 X 17 


31 



64 IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 

Number which 
could be accom- 
modated at 9 ft. 

15 
15 

17 

II 

II 

9 

" It is clear that these rooms were so congested as to prohibit 
the free movements of the bodies of the pupils, but when I add 
that the rooms were inadequately lighted and heated, it will be 
further evident that the brains of the scholars must have been 
as inert as their bodies," 

" In one school, I found 40 pupils and a teacher in a room 
12 ft. 10 in. by 7 ft. 5 in. ; in another there were 44 pupils and a 
teacher in an apartment 11 ft. by 9 ft. ; 66 infants and a teacher 
in a room 15 ft. by 9I ft. 

" The Black Hole of Calcutta is the only instance of greater 
overcrowding that occurs to me." 

** The Schools under B.C. management are, in the main, 
good and suitable buildings, erected in recent years at much 
expense to the locahties, and I desire to say that the foregoing 
remarks do not refer at all to those Schools. The Methodists, 
too, have done well, and they are almost entitled to exemp- 
tion from these observations. There are some good buildings 
under the E.G. and Presbyterian management, but in the main 
as regards these schools, it is, I think, clear that the present 
system of providing school accommodation in Belfast has 
hopelessly broken down, and I would say it is more particularly 
so in the case of schools under lay management." 

R.C. = Roman Cathohc. E.C. = Episcopalian. 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 65 



Excerpts from the General Report of the Senior Inspector, 
Mr. P. J. Kelly (No. 1 Circuit), for the School Year 1909-10. 

" Mr. Keith reports : — 

" Serious cases of overcrowding continue to occur. One 
city school supplies space for 291 children. At one visit I found 
386 present. In one of the rooms with accommodation for 47, 102 
infants spent their school days. At another school where there 
is accommodation for 232, 324 children were in attendance ; while 
y^ pupils were taught in a room for 44, and 116 in a room for 
47. Part of the time about 50 of the 116 referred to were taught 
in a tiled unheated passage, and this occurred on a snowy day 
in winter.' 

" In another school 103 children were given conversational 
lessons in a room 16 by 15, acconnuodating 24. In this room 
49 babies spent their school day. At a girls' school accommo- 
dating 20S, 403 were enrolled and I found 311 present. ..." 

" At another Infants' School an unheated room 10 by 10 is 
used as a class-room. Here the children have to endure one of 
two evils in winter, either to perish with cold if the door is kept 
open, or inhale vitiated air if it is shut. There were 197 children 
in attendance at another school which suppMes space for 100." 

" In the case of two schools referred to by Mr. Keith matters 
were still worse when I visited them. On visiting a school in 
September last, I found 37 pupils (boys and girls) under instruc- 
tion in a small yard. Sixteen boys were sitting on the tiled 
floor of the yard, and two others were standing with their backs 
to the door of one of the out-offices. The teacher thought this 
preferable to crowding the children into a class-room which is 
no better than a den." 

" On visiting another school, I opened a door of a class-room, 
when I was met by an atmosphere of appalling foulness. There 
were 75 in a ro n, though it could only accommodate 33." 

" I append some cases of overcrowded class-rooms that came 
under my own notice : — 

(The Senior Inspector cites in detail 43 class-rooms ; bui 
space will not permit giving in detail more than 10. The total 

E 



66 IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 

number of pupils proxiclcd for was 1,196, the number present 
wab 2,960 — an excess of 1,764. — Compiler's note.) 



Class- 


Accom- 




1 Class- 


Accom- 




rooms. 


modation. 


Present. 


. rooms 


modation. 


Present 


I 


18 


53 


6 


50 


145 


2 


34 


130 


7 


23 


43 


3 


50 


115 


8 


17 


52 


4 


6 


33 


, 9 


29 


74 


5 


47 


151 


i 10 


21 


42 



155 482 I 140 356 

" Citizens interested in school matters would do well to visit 
old Springfield school, and see for themselves a sample of the 
school houses which have gained for Belfast an unenviable 
notoriety." 



Excerpts from the General Report of the Senior Inspector, 
Mr. E. P. Bewar, M.A. (No. 2 Circuit), for the School Year, 

1910-11. 

" The provision made for the education of children in Bally- 
macarrett is exceedingly scant and inadequate. The schools 
are too few, and many of them are overcrowded so that children 
are repeatedly refused admission to them and are forced to grow 
up in idleness, and destitute of the merest elements of learning." 

" This deficiency is of long standing, and is growing with the 
growth of Ball3'macarrett ; and, in the meantime, one sees no 
prospect of any remedy. Matters have been allowed to drift 
for such a long time that the sight of children loitering in the 
streets during school hours excites no surprise, or the oft-told 
tale of failure? to find room in any school no sjinpathy or regret." 

" There is something amiss with a place which abounds in 
industrial works and maintains a teeming population, but is 
unwilling or reluctant to provide the means of giving every child 
within its bounds the opportunity of learning to read or write. 
In an age when knowledge is essential, and should be widespread 
it is pitiful to find children deprived of the right to attend school 
and debarred from receiving what a school is able to give." 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 67 

" If schools were provided for the surpkis of all Ballymacarrett 
schools at least ten more would be required, each capable of 
accommodating 230 children." 



Excerpts from the General Report of the Senior Inspector, 
Mr. P. J. Kelly (No. 2 Circuit), for the School Year, 1911-12. 

" Early in 191 1 the Commissioners called for a full report 
from the Belfast Inspectors of cases of overcrowding in the 
city schools. If the information then obtained by my colleagues 
and myself were to be embodied in this report it would make 
dreary and disheartening reading." 

" It is a pity that a city in many respects so progressive, 
with ' pride in its port and defiance in its eye,' should have to look 
calmly on while its children arc either cooped up in ill-ventilated 
class-rooms or left to face the perils of the street. It cannot be 
that all the criticism suggested by this topic has been wasted." 

" There is a great deal of indifference to, or want of know- 
ledge of, the conditions under which teachers and children work 
in a large number of city schools." 

" I do not think it is an exaggeration to say that there are on 
an average at least 17,000 children of school-going age who are 
absent each day. This is an appalling fact, and should make 
Belfast open its eyes." 



Excerpts from the General Report of the Senior Inspector, 
Mr. J. Chambers, M.A. (No. 1 Circuit), for the School Year, 

1913-14. 

" Many of the schools are greatly overcrowded, but this over- 
crowding does not give a true representation of the number of 
children for whom additional accommodation is required, as 
owing to recent regulations children arc refused admission to 
schools in which there is no space available for them, with the 
result that many of them never enter any school." 

" In the following list of 15 schools . . . overcrowding, 
often of a serious nature, exists." 



68 IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 

(The figures summarized are as follows — compiler's note.) 
Accommodation Needed Actual Accommodation Excess 
15 Schools— 3,005 2,369 636 

" If I were to make out a list of schools in which the terms of 
Rule 185 are not strictly observed, it would include treble the 
number in the above list. About 50 per cent, of the city schools 
have no playgrounds ; 20 per cent, have playgrounds of moderate 
dimensions ; and 30 per cent, are suitably supplied." 

" There are a great many half-time pupils in the Circuit, 
but the education children receive while so employed is of little 
value. The time for the abolition of the half-time system has, 
in my opinion, arrived." 

" The attendance, as a whole, continues much the same as in 
previous years, and cannot be considered satisfactory. Many 
children only make the attendances required to escape prosecu- 
tion. . . . The majority of the children leave school and ' go to 
work ' as early as the law permits," 



Miss M. R. Kelly, M.A. ("Woman Inspector on Special Duty"), 

writes :— 

" In poor areas, where a hand-to-mouth existence prevails, 
children come to school only when they must and leave when they 
can. Many never reach Standard IV, and few get beyond it 
before the mills claim them for half-time. In these industrial 
districts, too, the girls are often kept at home day after day for 
duties which the mothers, being out at work, are unable to per- 
form. ... On the other hand, and for the same reason, the infants 
are sent to school often at a very early age when the advantage to 
school and child is doubtful." " , . . In schools which touch 
the social low-water mark, the pupils naturally appear degen- 
erate, and girls attending on the ' half-time ' system have a 
drawn, withered look." 

" In the Convent schools, and in schools situated in well-to-do 
locaUties, one finds a fair number enrolled in Standards VI and 
VII ; in the working-class districts children rarely get beyond 
Standard V." 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 69 

Excerpts from the General Report 0! the Senior Inspector, 
Mr. P. J. Kelly (No. 2 Circuit), for the School Year 1913-14. 

" Since I came to Belfast 13 years ago, I have been referring 
in all my general reports to the inadequate and often unsatis- 
factory accommodation which many of the city schools afford. 
I have charge of 'i'j city schools on the Antrim side of the Lagan, 
and 72 on the County Down side. It is among the 72 referred 
to that the overcrowding is most marked. ... It is of interest 
to note that the average on the rolls in Belfast for 1912 was 
less than the average for 1905 by 1,369, whereas in Dublin the 
average for 1912 was 1,661 greater than the corresponding average 
for 1905." 

"... Another school has accommodation for 70, but 104 
were present. I found 43 pupils in a room 12 ft. 11 in. by 11 ft. 
9 in. This room has a sloping corrugated iron roof, one end of 
which is only a few feet from the floor. I make bold to say that 
a County Down farmer would not think it too good for a foul 
house." 

" In the city schools children come to school at an early age. 
It is certain, however, that there are many children whose" early 
education has been grossly neglected. I have noted a case where 
a number of boys were admitted who were too old to be enrolled 
as infants, but were unfit for First Standard." 

" The half-time pupils in one school were classified by Stan- 
dards as follows : Standard I, 59 ; II, 102 ; III, 113 ; IV, 33 ; 
V, 22 =- 329. 

" All these pupils must have been over 12 yQ^rs of age, and 
as nearly 50 per cent, of them were enrolled in Standards I and 
II, it is clear that their attendance at school must have been 
irregular in the extreme. The teacher informed me that 19 
of those enrolled in Standard I had to be taught with the 
infants. ..." 



70 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 



TABLE XV 

STATISTICS OF "HABITUAL CRIMINALS AT LARGE'' 
AND HOUSES CLASSIFIED BY THE POLICE AS RESORTS 
OF HABITUAL CRIMINALS. 



Sections. 


Lein- 
ster. 


^i"^- 1 Ulster, 
ster. 


Con- 
naught. 


Ireland. 


" Habitual Criminals at Large " 
enumerated by the Police in 
April of each year : Yearly 
average for the five years, 
1908-1912 


80 


68-6 


566-4 


12-2 


727-2 


Ratio per 100,000 population . 


6-88 


6-62 


35-81 


2-00 


16-56 


" Habitual Criminals at Large " : 
Yearly average, five years, 
1909-1913 


76-8 


63 


461-6 


12-8 


614-2 


Houses classified by the Police 
as Resorts of Habitual Crimi- 
nals : Yearly average, five 
years, 1908-1912 .... 


7-4 


9-8 


i 
164-8 j — 


182 


Ratio per 100,000 population . 


0-64 


0-95 10-42 1 — 4-15 



The compiler when dealing with the statistics of " habitual 
criminals at large " in Ulster was confronted by the fact that 
while 490 habitual criminals were enumerated by the Police in 
Belfast in April, 1912, only 42 appeared in the Police " enumer- 
ation " of April, 1913. Between the dates of the 1912 and the 
1913 Police " enumerations " Ulster was busy in gun-running 
and in movements connected with the "Ulster Covenant" 
and the Proclamation of the Ulster Provisional Government. 
As the 448 " habitual criminals " had, more or less, for ten 
years contributed to the total of the Police enumerations made 
in Ulster in each year, it was decided to give the average for 
two periods of five years. That a yearly average from 1909 
to 1913 would not represent the " habitual criminals at large " 
under normal conditions in Ulster is confirmed by the yearly 
average for the ten years 1903-1912, being 7061. 

To avoid any misconception as to the reason for showing 
the average for the two periods--1908-12, 1909-13— the 
figures for the five years preceding 1908 are subjoined. The 
total Pohce " enumerations " of habitual criminals at large 
for Ulster (including Belfast) and for Belfast for the five years 
1903-1907 amounted to 4,229 and 3,297, or a yearly average 
for each of 845-8 and 659-4 respectively. 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 71 

The reduction in the Belfast Police Enumerations oi 
" Habitual Criminals at Large " and " Houses of Bad Charac- 
ter " from 490 and 136 in April, 1912, to 42 and 58 respectively 
in April, 1913, remains still a my^^-^'y 

The mysterious disappearance of such a large number 
of habitual criminals under the conditions reigning in Belfast 
during 1912 calls for more than passing notice. One of the 
peculiai'ities of the 1913 Belfast Police enumeration of 
"habitual criminals at large" and their houses of resort is 
that it shows 16 more "houses of criminal resort" than 
"habitual criminals at large/' 

No information could be obtained from the Commissioner 
of Police in Belfast as to what had become of the 448 habitual 
criminals. His reply to the inquiry was to ask what the 
information was wanted for, and when he was informed, he 
referred the compiler to the Inspector-General at Dublin 
Castle. The Inspector-General has since been communicated 
with, but up to the time of publication no reply has been received. 

In view of the great difference in the numbers between 
the Belfast and Dublin yearly "enumerations" of 
habitual criminals at large and of their houses of resort, steps 
were taken to ascertain Vvhether Belfasfs were lower than 
those of the largest centres of industry in Enplane!, Scotland 
and V/ales. The detailed Table below shows that Belfast, 
compared with the largest industrial centres in England 
and Wales, holds the position of having the highest ratio 
of "habitual criminals at large" and "houses of bad char- 
acter " to population. 

The extraordinary number of habitual criminals in Bel- 
fast, their houses of resort, and the social and economic 
atmosphere they seemed to indicate, led tho compiler to search 
for the underlying cause of such conaiuons. Information 
was sought regarding the environment of Belfast children. 
This he found in the reports of the Belfast School Inspec- 
tors ; and also in the report of the Commiitee appointed by 
the Home Secretary, Mr. Winston Churchill, in 1911, to inquire 
into the wage and other conditions of workers employed in 
connection with the Linen Industry of Belfast, etc. 



72 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 



TABLE XVI 

HABITUAL CRIMINALS AT LARGE AND HOUSES OF BAD 

CHARACTER ENUMERATED BY THE POLICE ON THE 

FIRST TUESDAY IN APRIL OF EACH YEAR FOR THE 

FRrE YEARS 1908-1912. 

Police yearly Enumeration of *' Habitual Criminals at 
Large " and their Houses of Resort in Ulster, Belfast, Dublin 
and all Ireland compared with the Police Enumeration for 
the Metropohtan Police District— including the City Pohce 
District— of London and other large centres of population in 
England and Wales ; also with those of all England and Wales. 



Habitual Ratio Houses Ratio Popula- 



Criinnuil^ per 
at l.virce. 100,000. 



of Bad 
Charac- 
ter. 
4- 



per i!on, 191 1 
100.000. Census. 



Belfast 502 

Sheftield -'>6 

Leeds 24 1 

Birmingham 2S0 

Manchester 309 

Cardiff 79 

Hull no 

Liverpool -:3',' 

Dublin, jMctropolitan Police 

District OSo 

London, Metropolitan and 

City ]'o]ice Districts . i.o(j--,-.\ 

Ulster, Anti-Irish-Rulc. . 546-2 

Ulster, Province of . . . 5064 

England 3,802 2 

England and Wales . . 3,989-2 

Leinstcr So-o 

Munster 68 -6 

Ireland, excluding Ulster . i6o-S 

Ulster, Pro-Irish-Rule . . 20-2 

Connaught 12-2 

Leinster, excluding Dublin 
Metropolitan Police Dis- 
trict population . . . 12-0 



12973 
58-55 
54-18 
53-36 
4334 
43-34 
30-86 
31-62 

16-34 

15-11 

52-22 

35-81 

11-34 

1 1 06 

6-88 

6-62 

5-73 

3-77 

2-00 



i-6i 



M5'2 
26-4 
41-6 
53-8 
24-2 
12-6 
18-8 
36-2 

0-8 

508-0 

157-4 

164-8 

1,017-4 

1,035-8 

7-4 

9-8 

17-2 

7-4 
>s'il 



6-6 



37-52 
5-81 

9-34 
10-23 

3-39 
6-gi 
6-76 
4S5 

o-ig 

701 
15-05 
10-42 
2-09 
2-87 
064 
o-w5 
0-61 
1-38 
Kil 



0-83 



386,947 
454.63^ 
445.550 
5-'5.833 
714.333 
182,259 
277,991 
746,4-!i 

416,104 

7.251,358 

1,046,030 

; 1,581,696 

34.045.290 

36,070,492 

1,162,044 

1.035.495 

2.808,523 

535,666 

610,984 



745.940 



Columns 2 and 4 show the yearly average for the 5 years ; 3 and 5 the ratio 
per 100,000 of the populations. 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 73 

Column 6 shows the 1911 Census populations with the 
exception oJ London. 

The average of the Ave years 1908-12 is obtained by 
dividing the total Enumerations of the five years by 5. For 
example, the total of the Enumerations for the London Metro- 
politan Police — including the City District — was 5,477. The 
yearly average amounted to 1,096-4 " Habitual Criminals at 
Lai'ge." 

The Police define ** Habitual Criminals " as persons who 
engage habitually in crime as their means or part of their 
means of livelihood. 

They describe " Houses of Bad Character " as houses 
where Habitual Criminals regularly resort and meet ; also 
Houses of Receivers of Stolen Goods. 

The London Metropolitan and City population is based 
on the" yearly Pohce Returns. 

The Dublin Metropolitan Police District population, which 
includes that of the city, is shown separately in the Census 
Returns. 

In connection with the populations of the County Boroughs of Birming- 
ham and Sheffield, it is to be observed that the areas and populations of 
these County Boroughs were increased between the date of the 191 1 
Census and that of the 1912 (2nd April) enumerations of " habitual 
criminals at large." The figures m the Table are those recorded in the 
i\>ii Census. By the Birmingham Extension Order, 191 1, which came 
into operation in part on the 9th November, 191 1, and in full on the 
1st April, 1 91 2, Birmingliam was extended to include an addition of 
314,369 persons to its population. Sheffield, by an Order of 1911, which 
came into operation on the ist April. 1012, was extended to include an 
addition of 5,284 persons. It has not, however, been deemed necessary 
to vary the basis of the ratios. A day, even, had not intervened between 
the date of the completion of the Extensions and that of the 191 2 Enumera- 
tions ; furthermore, the 1912 enumeration of habitual criminals at large 
in each of the County Bor(.ughs had been exceeded by that of a prior year 
in the period 1008-12. If the 1012 figures had been omitted and the 
averages for the five years ended April, 191 1, taken, the ratios would be 
slightly higher for the habitual criminals at large and lower for houses 
Cif bad character. 



74 IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 



EXTRACTS FROM THE REPORTS OF DR. H. W. BAILIE, 

MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH FOR BELFAST, AND 

THE HOME OFFICE COMMITTEE ON THE " SWEATING " 

OF LINEN WORKERS IN BELFAST. 

After carefully perusing the Belfast School Reports ex- 
tending over 15 years, together with the reports above men- 
tioned, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that it is owing 
to the deplorable educational, economic and social conditions 
that Belfast holds its unenviable record in connection with 
*' Habitual Criminals at Large ' ' and their Houses of Resort. 

That readers may liave in a cr3'stallized form some of the 
wage conditions revealed in the "sweating" reports, a few ex- 
tracts from them follow. 

DR. H. W. BAILIE, IN HIS REPORT (ISSUED IN 1910) 
INTER ALIA, STATED : 

" It is to be regretted that no improvement has been noted 
in the rate of paymint given to out-workers in tlic city. The 
increase of work during tlie year lias not been accompanied by 
any increase in the rate of payment, which is still in the majority 
of cases far too low. 

" In the last week in December, for instance, a woman was 
observed embroidering small dots on cushion covers ; there were 
300 dots on each cushion, and for sewing these by hand she 
received the sum of one penny. She said that for a day's work 
of this sort she would have difficulty in making sixpence. Nor 
is this an exceptional case. Quite recently our Inspector was 
shown handkerchiefs which were to be ornamented by a design 
in dots ; these dots were counted, and it was found that the 
worker had to sew 384 dots for one penny. Comment is needless. 
Other classes of work arc as badl}- paid. The finishing of shirts, 
which consists of making the button-holes, sewing on buttons, 
and making small gussets at the wrists and sides of the shirts, 
may be instanced. In each shirt, six or seven button-holes have 
to be cut and hand-sewn, eight buttons have to be sewn on and 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 



75 



four gussets made. This work is paid at the rate of sixpence for 
one dozen shirts. Nor is this a cheap class of goods, permitting 
scamped work. The sewing has to be neat and well finished, and 
the button-holes evenly sewn, the shirts being of a fine quality 
for which the buying public has to give a good price. 

" The making-up trades in general pay very poorly. Among 
the various kinds of badly paid work noticed may be mentioned — " 



Children's Pinafores, flounced and braided, at 

Women's Chemises, 

Women's Aprons, 

Men's Drawers, 

Men's Shirts, 

Blouses, 

Ladies' Overalls, 



4|d. 
7|d. 
2M. 
idd. 
lOd. 

9d. 

9d. 



per dozen 



" SWEATING " OF WOMEN WORKERS IN THE BELFAST 
MAKING-UP TRADES. 

HOME OFFICE COMMITTEE OF INVESTIGATION, APPOINTED BY 
MR WINSTON CHURCHILL IN 1911, TO INQUIRE AND REPORT 
ON THE STATEMENTS MADE IN 1910 BY DR. H. W. BAILIE, 
MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH FOR BELFAST, IN HIS REPORT 
ON THE SWEATING OF WOMEN OUT-WORKERS IN THE LINEN 
TRADE IN BELFAST AND DISTRICT. 

Of the 531 "Investigated" cases of Belfast women 
out-workers' pay (for Thread-drawing and Clipping, Fancy 
Sewing, Embroidery, Machine Stitching, Vice-folding, Top- 
sewing, etc.) investigated by and testified to by three Official 
witnesses before the Committee of Inquiry, there were : — 

3 Cases at rates of pay above 4d. but under 6d. per hour. 
" above 3d. but not over 4d. per hour. 
» from 2d. to 3d., both inclusive. 
♦' above Id. but under 2d. per hour. 

at Id. per hour. 

under Id. per hour. 



8 




98 




153 




101 




168 





531 



76 IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 

The analysis of the 168 cases at under Id. pei hour shows 
the following results : — 

33 Cases were at rates over |d. but under Id. per hour. 

68 " »' » over |d. but not over |d. per hour. 

64 » M » over Jd. but not over |d. per hour. 

3 >' M at a id. or less. 

168 

The Committee's Report helps one to judge the trend of 
mind of some of the Belfast employers. This will be seen 
from the following extracts : — 

" An attempt was made by some of the employers to show 
(Qs. 2,935, 3,111, 4,714) that the competition of firms for workers 
v\'as sufficient to ensure the out-worker a fair wage." 

" The Belfast employers who gave evidence contended for 
the most part that the rates per hour mentioned in the ' investi- 
gated cases ' were, on the whole, lower than those which are 
normally earned by a worker of average efficiency, and that many 
mstances of low payment would be accounted for by the fact 
that the worker whom the witness visited was below the general 
standard." 

" In these circumstances we determined to satisfy ourselves 
independently as to the rates per hour which average out-workcrs 
would earn at the several processes, and we accordingly arranged 
with some Belfast employers for workers chosen by them to carry 
out in our presence work identical with that referred to in some 
of the cases in the evidence." 

" The opinion we have formed is that cases of undoubtedly 
low payme7its to out- workers in certain branches of the making-up 
trades have been proved." 

" In order to appreciate the full significance of these cases 
it is necessary to bear in mind that they were selected haphazard, 
and that the tests were conducted under conditions arranged 
by the employers themselves with workers chosen by them, who 
were evidently skilled, and some of them worked at a speed which 
they would not have been able to maintain during ordinary 
employment. Even in these circumstances, however, the rates 
per hour earned will be seen to fall conspicuously below those 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND ^7 

which the employers had mentioned to us as being, in their 
opinion, within the earning power of fair average workers, and 
in fact most of them come within the lowest ranges of the rates 
given above in the Tables of Investigated cases." 

" In addition there is the evidence given by Dr. H. W. Bailie, 
the medical superintendent officer of health for Belfast, as to 
cases which he personally investigated. In one of these a young 
woman, believed by him to be from 25 to 27 years of age, was 
employed in making medium-sized chemises at ()d. per dozen, 
and earned after paying i\d. for thread and her tram-fare to 
and from the factory, only \d. per hour. She earned about the 
same amount in making a larger size for 11^. a dozen (Os. 2,672-4). 
Of another worker he stated (Q. 2,675) : — She worked a large 
number of years ; is a good speedy worker ; sews hand-hemmed 
handkerchiefs at 2s. per dozen ; and could not possibly earn 
more than id. an hour. He also gave various other instances of 
out-workers earning at the rate of \d., id., and 2^. an hour (Qs. 
2,678-80)." 

" Considerable difficulty was experienced in inducing both 
factory workers and out-workers to come forward as witnesses, 
on account of a general apprehension on their part that they might 
thereby lose their employment." 

" Of the workers in the Belfast making-up factories we could 
induce only a few to come before us as witnesses, and some of 
these complained of low weekly wages for full-time employment 
and of inadequate piece rates." 

" The principal market for much of the Belfast and Lurgan 
work appears to be the United States (Qs. 4,524, 4,639-80)." 

"Miss Jane Agnew, Sanitary Sub-Inspector under Dr. 
H. W. Bailie, examined : — 

" (Q. 45) Now as to wages. ... In your calls at houses, 
how many cases did you note as to rafes of wages ? — About 270. 

" (Q. 48) Did you actually take written notes ? — Yes, in all 
these cases I did." 

Miss Agnew describes the out-workers in Belfast (Q. 85) as 

follows : — 

" Widows and spinsters depending upon the work for their 
livelihood, married women whose husbands are out of work, 
and women whose husbands are labourers earning small pay." 



78 IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 



Miss M. Galway, General Secretary of the Textile Operatives' 
Association of Ireland, examined. 

" Chairman (Q. 387) : Are the workers in the making-tip trades 
represented to any extent in your association ? — Unfortunately 
they are not. Is it the case that you undertook an investigation 
into the condition of the making-up trades in Belfast at the request 
of the Belfast Trades and Labour Council ? — Yes. 

" (Q- 396) Now with regard to the rate of wages, you say in 
your statement that the improvement in the methods of produc- 
tion adopted during the last twenty years has not resulted in a 
corresponding improvement in the payment of wages to the 
employees ? — No. The speeding up and improvement of 
machines have resulted in a lowering of the rate of wages. (Q. 
397) Will you kindly give us some instances in support of this 
statement ? — For instance, a rate of ^d. a dozen for lace-edging 
handkerchiefs was received twelve years ago, whereas workers 
now receive 2d. per dozen for the same work. 

" (Q. 402). Is the net result that the workers earn less wages 
in the same time ? — They earn about the same, but they do nearly 
double the quantity of work. (Q, 403) Is there more physical 
exertion ? — Yes. (Q. 404) Is the strain on the worker greater ? 
Yes, on the eyesight ; they must sit very close over the machine. 
(Q. 405) You consider that the introduction of this higher speed 
machinery actually results in greater wear and tear of the workers ? 
— It does. (Q. 408) You also say in your statement that where 
the machinery has not been improved, you have observed a lower- 
ing of wages ? — Yes. Firm — reduced three years ago rates paid 
to smoothers from 3^., 4^., and ^d. a gross to3(^. 4^., and 5^^. for 
20 dozen, . . . equalling lod. per day." » 

Mr. W. J. Sefton, Sanitary Inspector for Belfast, examined. 

" (Q- 650) Now, with regard to rates of pay, how did you 
get the names of the 178 out-workers that you visited ? —1 
got them from the returns made to the Public Health Departmeni 
by the employers. 

* Other instances were also furnished to the Committee. 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 79 

" (Q. 660) Do you think that the results which you obtained 
from your calls constitute typical and average cases ? — I believe 
they do." 

The evidence of the foregoing witnesses — Miss Agnew, Miss 
Galway and Mr. Sefton — takes up nearly 32 pages of the Blue 
Book. They investigated 531 cases. The Table in the report 
shows that 422 of them were at rates under 2d. an hour; 168 of 
the '422 were under id. an hour. Of the 531 there were only Ij. 
cases at rates above ^d. an hour ; 2 of the 11 were between ^d. 
and ()d. — none higher. 



EMPLOYMENT OF CHILDREN. 

" A painful feature incidental to out-work in the making-up 
trades in many towns is the extent to which children are employed 
at home. . . . The evidence of two school teachers (Qs. 2,443, etc., 
and 4,934, etc.), as well as that of Dr Agnew, medical superin- 
tendent officer of health for Lurgan, should be carefully read in 
this connection. . . . We have an abundance of evidence 
that young children are often kept working for long hours even 
until very late at night (Os. 1,168, 1,376, etc.)." 



8o IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 



COMPARISON OP POLICE "ENUMERATIONS" TAKEN OF 
HABITUAL CRIMINALS AT LARGE AND HOUSES OF BAD CHAR- 
ACTER, BETWEEN IRELAND AND ENGLAND AND WALES. 

After a perusal of the foregoing extracts, readers will not 
be quite unprepared for some of the comparative figures in the 
following paragraphs. 

An examination of the PoUce " enumerations " for England 
and Wales during the five years 1908-12 shows that the ratio 
for the Province of Ulster of "Habitual Criminals at Large,'' 
per 100,000 of her population, was 3 times, and that of Unionist 
Ulster 4^ times more than the ratio of England and Wales ; 
that the ratio of Ireland outside Ulster was but slightly 
over half that of England and Wales. In the case of houses 
where habitual criminals resort the ratio of Ulster Province 
was 3| times, and that of Unionist Ulster 5 times the ratio 
of England and Wales. The ratio for Ireland outside Ulster 
was less than a quarter of the ratio of England and Wales. 

Belfast compared with the largest centres of population 
— excluding London — showed a yearly average of 192 4 more 
habitual criminals at large than the highest average in 
England and Wales. 

It would seem that statistics for " habitual ciiminals at 
large" are not published for Scotland. The compiler, 
after a long and fruitless search for a Scottish official publi- 
cation containing them, sought information at the Scottish 
Office in Whitehall, London. The official in charge very 
willingly endeavoured to trace any pubhc record, but. re- 
grettably, his efforts met with a like result. Thus is explained 
the absence of Scottish statistics from the comparative Table 
of " Habitual Criminals at Large." 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 



8i 



TABLE XVII 

ULSTER AS SEEN THROUGH PARLIAMENTARY BLUE 
BOOKS AND WHITE PAPERS. 

The difficulty encountered at the initial stage in the inves- 
tigation of the facts concerning Ulster was how to arrive 
at a method of separating the counties into two groups — those 
in favour of Irish-Rule and those against it. As it was impos- 
sible to obtain any official figures bearing on the subject other 
than the 1911 Census returns of Catholics and non-Catholics 
in the various Ulster Counties, a division on the basis of 
those returns has been adopted. 

This basis the compiler considers to be faulty, as he 
understands that thousands of non-Catholic Ulster-Irishmen 
favour Irish-Rule. He regrets having to adopt such a basis ; 
history shows that the fact of diversity in creed has been used 
far too long to the detriment of the development of a United 
Ireland. 



Anti- 

Irish- 

Rule 

Counties. 



Antrim . 
Armagh . 
Belfast . 
Down . 
London- 
derry 



Percent- 
age of 
Non- 
Catholic 
Popu- 
lation. 



Non- ' 
Catholic 
Popu- j 
lation, 

1911 
Census. I 




Catholic 
Popu- 
lation, 
1911 

Census. 



39.751 
54.526 

93.243 
64.485 



Pro- 

Irish- 

Kule 

Counties. 



Percent- 
age of 

Catholic j 
Popu- I 
lation, I 
1911 

Census. 



Cavan . i 
Donegal . 
Fer- 
managh [ 
Monaghan 
Tyrone . | 



8i-5 
78-9 

56-2 
74-7 
554 



Catholic 

Popu- 
lation, 

191 1 
Census. 



74.271 
133.021 

34.740 
53.363 



Non- 
Catholic 
Popu- 
lation, 

1 9 1 1 
Census. 



16,902 
35.516 

27,096 
18,092 



79.015 63,650 



729,624 316,406 
316,406 



Anti-Irish-Rule . . 1,046^030 population. Pro-Irish-Rule 



374,410 161,256 
161,256 



535,666 populat'n. 

r 



82 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 



TABLE XVn — continued 



Col.j 



Nos. 

of 

Sees. 



Column 2. 

Table comprising 12 Sections ; 

the " He.adings " in each appl}' 

to both Anti-Irish- Rule and 

Irish-Rule Groups. Columns 

3 and 5 show Aiiti-Irisk-Rule 

and 4 and 6 Irish-Rule Statistics. 



3- 


4- 


5- 
Anti- 


Anti- 


Pro- 


Irish- 


Irish- 

Rule 

Fotals. 


Irish- 

Rule 

Totals. 

1 
1 


Rule 

Per- 
centages 

and 
Ratios. 



6. 
Pro- 
Irish - 
Rule 
Per- 
centages 

and 
Ratios. 



Births for the 5 years, 1909-13, 
with perceutage to population, 
lOii Census 

Illegitimate Births for 5 years, 
1909-13, with per cent, of total 
Births 

Deaths for 5 years, 1909-13, with 
per cent, of total population 

Infant Deaths under 1 for 5 years, 
1909-13, with per cent, of total 
Births 

Deaths of Children under 5, 1909-13, ; 
with per cent, of total Deaths . 1 

Deaths from Tuberculosis during 
1913, with per cent, of total 
Deaths in i q 1 3 

Treatment of Tuberculosis ; moneys 
paid in year 1913- 14 by C.C. for this 
purpose, with rale per 1,000 of pop.| 

University Scholarships, Bursaries, ■ 
etc. ; moneys paid by C.C.'s and 
C.B.'s from March, 191 1, to i 
April, 1914, with ratio per 1,000 i 
of population 

Emigrants from Ulster between 
January i, 1909, and December 
31, 1913, with per cent, of popu- 
lation 

Emigrants from May i, 1851, to 
December 31, 1913, with per 
cent, of estimated population 
based on Census — 1851-1911 

" Habitual Criminals at Large " 
recorded by the Police in April 
each year ; average for 5 years, 
1908-12, with ratio per 100,000 
of population 

Resorts of Habitual Criminals 
known to the Police ; average for 
5 years, 190S-12, with ratio as 
in Sec. 11 



129,654 : 57.0^9 j 12-39^ 10-64 
5..588 j i.3_^4 i 4-31 i 2-39 



92,270 I 44,658 ; 8-82 : 8- 



34 



13,8661 3,846 I 10 -69 i 6-75 
^^^57 i 5,772 ! 23-04 I 12-92 



-'555 1 792 i 13-52 



4861 j ;^i,405 \lo 16 6 £2 12 5 




8-8i 



i^ ^^ I £^.5^2 ]fP 3^ 2,^4 14 



38.074! 21.036 I 3-64 i 3-93 



^7^'494 I 549.976 ; 65-29 j 76-45 



546-2 20-2 I 52-22 



157-4 



7*4 15-05 



3-77 



1-38 



C.C. = County Council. C.B. = County Borough. 

Columns 3 and 5 should be read in conjunction ; likewise 
columns 4 and 6. 



IRELAND AND THE ULSDiR LEGEND 83 

The Counties with a non-Catholic majority are grouped 
as Anti-Irish-Rule, i.e. as opposed to Irish-Rule ; those with 
a Catholic majority as Pro-Irish-Rule, i.e. as in favour of it. 
Each group has two columns allotted to it in the Table, one 
for the Government figures, the other'for percentages, ratios, 
etc. When particular years are not given the figures repre- 
sent a review of the five years from January 1, 1909, to Decem- 
ber 31, 1913. 

The figures of County Londonderry population include 
40,780 in the County Borough, the Catholic population of 
which was 22,923 and the non-Catholic 17,857. 

The percentage columns— Nos. 5 and 6— in Section 2, 
show that for every 10,000 births in the Anti-Irish-Rule group 
there were 431 illegitimate births, as against 239 in the Pro- 
Irish-Rule group of counties. 

The mortahty as seen in Sections 4, 5 and 6, to which Bel- 
fast in no small measure contributes, is not easy to reconcile 
with the generally accepted idea that this part of Ulster, 
of which Belfast is the centre, is the most enhghtened 
and progressive part of Ireland. It is true that Belfast, 
unUke Dublin, is practically a new city, with all the advantages 
of embracing within her municipal boundaries the residences^ 
of her wealthiest citizens. This fact makes it all the more 
difficult to assign a reasonable cause for the mortahty figures 
in the three Sections. 

The emigration figures of both groups should command 
the thoughtful notice of all readers. 

Of the 546 " habitual criminals at large " in the Anti- 
Irish-Rule group, Belfast was responsible for 502. 



84 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 



TABLE XVra 

COUNTY ANTRIM COMPARED WITH COUNTY CAVAN. 

A comparison is shown below of the County in Ulster 
having the least number of its population in favour of Irish- 
Rule with the County having the least number opposed to 
Irish-Rule. Antrim, according to the basis adopted, has 
only 20 5 per cent, of its population in favour of, and County 
Cavan has 18 5 per cent, of its population against, Irish-Rule. 

Antrim is entirely represented by Members of Parhament 
opposed to Irish-Rule ; the Members for Cavan are in favour 
of Irish-Rule. 



Sections. 



Illegitimate Births : percentage of total births 

Total Deaths : percentage of population 

Infant Deaths under i : percentage of total births 

Children's Deaths under 5 : percentage; of total 
deaths 

Deaths from Tuberculosis in 191 3 : percentage of 
total deaths 

Tuberculosis Treatment : moneys paid by Rate- 
payers for its treatment, 19 13- 14 

Agricultural and Technical Instruction : moneys 
paid by Ratepayers for this purpose for the 5 
years, 1909-10-1913-14, per cent, of population 

Arrests for Drunkenness between 9 p.m. on Satur- 
days and 7 a.m. on Mondays, 5 years, 1908-12, 
per 1,000 population 

Habitual Criminals at Large : yearly average, 
1908-12 

Habitual Criminals' Resorts : yearly average, 
1908-12 



Antrim. 



16 6 ^ 

8-97 

0-2 

0-8 



Cavan. 



S-52 


1-47 


8-50 


7-70 


8-37 


5-92 


16-45 


11-63 


12-91 


6-83 


NU 


i^o 



£6 6 u 

4'io 

Nil 
Nil 



In the case of emigration one cannot compare the two 
Counties, as emigrants from certain parts of Belfast are 
included in the County Antrim returns. 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 



85 



TABLE XIX 

Of the Counties in the Pro-Irish-Rule group, Tyrone has 
the largest minority, on the basis adopted, opposed to Irish-Rule. 
In this connection readers may be interested to see how Tyrone 
compares in the different sections with the rest of the group. 
The population of Tyrone is 26 63 per cent, of the group 
population. The group consists of the Counties of Cavan, 
Donegal, Fermanagh, Monaghan and Tyrone. 



Sections. 



Illegitimate Births : percentage of total births 
Total Deaths : percentage of population 
Infant Deaths under i : percentage of total births 
Children's Deaths under 5 : percentage of total 

deaths 

Deaths from Tuberculosis in 1913 : percentage of 

total deaths in 1913 

Emigration from January i, 1909, to December 31, 

1913 : percent, of 191 1 Census population . .' 
Emigration from May i, 1851, to December 31, 

1913 : per cent, of population on basis of Census 

Returns from 1851 to 191 1 inclusive .... 
Arrests for Drunkenness from 9 p.m. on Saturdays 

to 7 a.m. on Mondays, for 5 years, 1908-12, per 

1,000 of population 

"Habitual Criminals at Large": average yearly 

Police Enumeration, 1908-12 

Habitual Criminals' Resorts : yearly average 

Pohce Enumeration for 5 years, 1908-12 
Moneys paid by County Councils for the treatment 

of Tuberculosis in 1913-14 financial year . . 
Moneys paid by County Councils for University 

Scholarships, Bursaries, etc., from March, 191 1, 

to March 31, 1914 




75-69 

8-33 
i8-6 
6-2 

£40 



Cavan, 

Donegal, 

Fermanagh 

and 
Monaghan. 



I -90 
8-05 
6-38 

12-72 

8-52 

3-95 

76-73 

4-81 
1-6 

1-2 

;^l,38i 
;^2,482 



86 IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 

ULSTER COUNTIES (EXCEPT DONEGAL) COMPARED 

WITH COUNTIES IN OTHER PROVINCES 
FOR INCOME TAX ASSESSMENT AND EMIGRATION. 



In this Table (XX, pp. 88-9) all the Counties in Ulster, 
with the exception of Donegal, are compared with Counties 
in the other Provinces. 

County Donegal having a low per capita Income Tax 
(Schedules A and B) Assessment, its omission is in favour of 
Ulster. 

A glance at the Income Tax Assessment column shows 
that in 7 Sections out of the 8 in the Table, the total Assess- 
ment of the Counties compared with Ulster Counties is 
higher. 

Sections 1 and 2 comprise the wealthiest portion of Ulster. 
Belfast with its linen industry, factories and shipbuilding 
yards, is included. 

In Section 1, Antrim, Armagh, Down, Londonderry and 
Tyrone, with the County Boroughs of Belfast and Londonderry, 
having a population of 1,188,695, are compared with Leinster 
having a population of 1,162,044. In Leinster no selection 
is made. Dublin is counterbalanced by Counties less favour- 
ably situated. All the conditions seem to favour Ulster, yet 
its total Income Tax (under Schedules A and B) Assess- 
ment is £1,042,697 less and per capita 19s. 9d. less than 
that of Leinster. 

Section 2 includes what might be termed the "hub" 
of industrial Ulster ; still compared with the Southern Group 
in 2a it is found that the total Income Tax Assessment is 
£226,504 less. 

In Section 3, it is seen that the Munster Counties are 
assessed at a total of £338,949 higher, and also £1 2s. lOd. per 
capita higher than the Ulster Counties. 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 87 

The Government Income Tax Assessments under Schedules 
A and B in this Table should dissipate the erroneous impres- 
sions which seem to prevail regarding the relative economic 
importance of Ulster and the Southern Counties. 

The Emigration returns in column 5 should arrest the 
attention of all. The returns for the five years 1909-13 show 
that 23,237 more people emigrated from the part of Ulster 
that is looked upon as the most prosperous, than from the 
Province of Leinster. Ulster shows in every section the 
highest number of emigrants from each group of Counties 
and from each County compared with those from the other 
Provinces, for the years 1909-13. 

The last column, which contains the Emigration returns 
from May 1, 1851, to December 31, 1913, shows that the Coun- 
ties of Ulster in No. 1 section lost, by emigration, in that 
period 87,137 more than Leinster. 

The Anti-Irish-Rule part of Ulster lost by emigration 
65-29 per cent, of her estimated population between 1851 
and the end of 1913. The percentage lost by Leinster was 
55 8. 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 



TABLE XX 



ULSTER COUNTIES (EXCEPT DONEGAL) COMPARED 

WITH COUNTIES IN OTHER PROVINCES 
FOR INCOME TAX ASSESSMENT AND EMIGRATION. 



I. 2. 


3- 


4- 


5- 


6. 


7- 


The Counties named 












below are compared for 






Natives 




Natives 


Income Tax Assessment 






of 




of 


on Land and all Business 


Gross 


Ratio 


Ireland 




Ireland 


Premises, Factories, Sites, 


Assess- 


per 


who 


Per 


who 


Dwellings, etc., under the 


ment 


capita 


emi- 


Cent. 


emi- 


Complete Schedules A and 


under 


of 191 1 


grated 


of 


grated 


B ; also for Emigration 


Schedules 


Census 


1909 to 


Popu- 


in 


during two Periods : 


A and B. 


Popula- 


1913 


lation. 


Penod 


(a) January i, 1909. to 




tion. 


inclu- 




1851 to 


December 31, 1913 ; 






sive. 




1913. 


(b) May i, 1851, to 












December 31, 1913- 












1 Counties of Antrim, Ar- 


£ 


£ s. d. 








magh, Down, London- 












derry and Tyrone, inclu- 












sive of Belfast and Lon- 












donderry Cities, 191 1 Cen- 












sus Population 1,188,695 


4,847,286 


4 I 7 


43.596 


3.67 


824,880 


10 Leinster Province, Popula- 












tion 1,162,044 


5.889,983 


5 I 4 


20,359 


1-75 


737.743 


2 Counties of Antrim, Down 












and Londonderry, inclu- 












sive of Belfast and Lon- 












donderry Cities, Popula- 












tion 925.739 .... 


3.774.910 


4 I 7 


33.337 


360 


570,716 


2a Counties of Dublin*, Corkf 












and Meath*, inclusive of 












Dublin and Cork Cities, 












Population 934,391 . 


4,001,414 


458 


19.455 


208 


745.817 


3 Counties of Armagh, Lon- 












donderry and Tyrone, 












inclusive of Londonderry 












City, I'opulalion 403,581 


1.572.996 


3 17 " 


14.853 


3-68 


369.092 


3a Counties of LimcricK Tip- 








perary and V/aierford,t 


: 










inclusive ol Limerick and 


1 










Waterford Cities, I^opu- 


I 










lation 379,468 


1,911,045 


509 


10,919 


2-88 


521.742 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 89 

TABLE XX — continued 



I. 2. 

The Counties named 


3- 


4. 


5- 


6. 


7. 


below are compared for 












Income Tax Assessment 






Natives 




Natives 


on Land and all Business 




Ratio 


of 




of 


Premises, Factories, Sites, 


Gross 


per 


Ireland 


Per 


Ireland 


Dwellings, etc., under the 


Assess- 


capita 


who 


Cent. 


who 


Complete Schedules A and 


ment 


of 191 1 


emi- 


of 


emi- 


B ; also for Emigration 


under 


Census 


grated 


Popu- 


grated 


during two Periods : 


Schedules 


Popula- 


1909 to 


lation. 


in 


(a) January i, 1909, to 


A and B. 


tion. 


1913 




Period 


December 31, 1913 ; 






inclu- 




1851 to 


(6) May i, 1851, to 






sive. 




1913. 


December 31, 191 3. 












4 County of Londonderry, 


i 


i s. d. 








inclusive of Londonderry 












City, Population 140,625 


500,620 


3 11 2 


4.594 


3.27 


114,928 


4a County Limerick, inclusive 












f of the City of Limerick, 












Population 143,069 . 


668,071 


4 13 5 


4.4^5 


3.09 


191.843 


5 County Fermanagh, Popu- 












lation 61,836 .... 


303.379 


4 18 I 


2,125 


3-44 


59.133 


5a County Westmeath, Popu- 












* lation 59,986 .... 


398,006 


6 12 8 


1,000 


1-67 


53.415 


6 County Armagh, Popula- 












tion 120,291 .... 


5". 701 


4 5 I 


4.737 


3-94 


105,778 


6a County Wexford, Popula- 












* tion 102,273 .... 


488,785 


4 15 7 


1,207 


i-iS 


75.670 


7 County Cavan, Population 












91,173 


357.227 


3 18 4 


4.299 


472 


123,803 


7a County Roscommon, Popu- 












X lation 93.956 .... 


388,879 


429 


3.722 


3-96 


115.550 


8 County Monaghan, Popu- 












lation 71,455 .... 


336.107 


4 14 I 


2,157 


3-02 


79.444 


Za County Kilkenny, Popula- 










* tion 74,962 .... 


459.659 


628 


1.717 


2-29 


77.920 



All populations in this Table are from the 1911 Census Returns. 
The Income Tax Assessments are from a " White Paper " Return for the 
year ended April 5, 1911. 

Column No. 6 contains the percentage of emigrants for the five years 
1909-13 to population. 

* = Counties in LEINSTER. t = Counties in MUNSTER. 

X = County in CONNAUGHT. 



QO 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 



TABLE XXI 
ANTI-IRISH-RULE ULSTER versus CONNAUGHT. 
While going through the Ulster Table, the compiler 
remembered, as a student of history, reading of the Crom- 
wellian phrase used, during a most unfortunate period of 
Irish history, in connection with deportees from the different 
Provinces in Ireland. The deportees were given the option 
"to go to Hell or Connaught." Before leaving the Table 
he thought it would be of interest, at this juncture, to compare 
under different sections, Anti-Irish-Rule Ulster with the 
Province looked upon, even in Cromwell's time, as comparable 
to the nether regions. 

The results of the comparison will be found below : — 



Sections. 



Antrim, 
i Armagh, 
j Down, 

I Londonderry, 
j with the Cities 
of Belfast and 
I Londonderry, j 



Births : per cent, of Population for 5 
years, 1909-13 

Illegitimate Births : per cent, of total 
Births, 1909-13 



Deaths : per cent, of Population, 5 years, 
1909-13 . 



4 Deaths of Infants under i : per cent, of 
, Births, 1909-13 

5 Deaths of Children under 5 : per cent, of 
I Deaths 

6 Deaths from Tuberculosis : per cent, of 
I total Deaths in 1913 

7 Arrests for Drunkenness : Arrests between 
I 9 p.m. on Saturdays and 7 a.m. on 
I Mondays, Belfast 's^ arrests and popula- 
I tion excluded from the Ratio per 
I 1,000 of Population, 5 years, 1908-12 . 



Connaught. 



12-39 



10-69 
23-0.} 
1352 



S-63 



11-04 



4-31 


0-70 


8-82 


7.17 



583 

i3-4(> 
10-66 



4-47 



* The Belfast arrests — 4,123 — have been cxcUulcd ; it would not be 
fair to include them, as public-houses " open " in Belfast on Sundays, 
while in Connaught, as in all rural districts, they are not allowed to open. 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 
TABLE XXI — continued 



91 





Sections. 


Antrim, 
Armagh, 
Down, 
Londonderry, 
with the Cities 
of Belfast and 
Londonderry. 


Connaught. 


8 


Tuberculosis Treatment : Moneys paid 
by County Councils for this purpose in 
1913-14 Financial Year 


£861 


;^i.465 


9 


University Scholarships, etc. : Moneys 
paid out of rates by County Councils 
and County Boroughs under the Univer- 
sities Act for 3 years, 1911-12 to 1913-14 


£165 


;^4.679 


10 


Agricultural and Technical Instructions: 
Moneys paid from rates by County 
Councils only, for this purpose ^ . 


^31,983 16 II 


£28,404 10 II 


II 


Emigrants from January i, 1909, to 
December 31, 1913 

Emigrants from May i, 1851, to December 
31. 1913 


38.074 


33.871 


12 


676,494 


721,479 


13 


" Habitual Criminals at Large " : Yearly 
average of Police enumerations for the 
5 years, 1908-12 . ^. 

" Houses of Bad Character " : Yearly 
average of such houses known to the 
Police as resorts of Habitual Criminals, 
5 years, 1908-12 


546-2 


12-2 


14 


157-4 


Nil 



^ The amounts do not include moneys paid by Urban Authorities, 
County Borough, or Urban District Councils for Technical Instruction. 



92 IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 



APPENDIX 

Extracts from the report of the Joint Committee of the Lords and 
Commons (4 Peers, 2 Baronets and 2 M.P.'s without titles) on 
the City of Dublin Extension of Boundaries Bill. Also extracts 
from " The Irish Times " leading article on the day following 
the decision of the Committee. 



" That in the case of the Dublin Corporation Bill they have 
approved the Bill with certain amendments, among which are 
those excluding the two townships of Rathmines and Pem- 
broke from the extension of the boundaries of the City of 
Dublin." 

" Further the Committee unanimously desire to call attention 
to the heavy burdens falling upon the City of Dublin ratepayers 
for objects to which the two townships of Rathmines and Pem- 
broke do not in their opinion adequately contribute." 

" They are of opinion that these residential townships should 
be contributors to these burdens." 

" They invite the attention of the Government to this subject, 
and suggest that legislation should be proposed to Parhament 
following the principle of the law equalizing rates in London." 

The following appeared in the leading article in '' The Irish 
Times," 20th July, 1900. 

"... They refused, however, to hand over the two important 
townships, Rathmines and Pembroke, which the extensionists 
coveted most, and this is the unkindest cut of all. The opposition 
of the district was too strong to be overborne. As we insisted 
from the inception of the controversy, there was no justification 
for the proposal to absorb them. . . . We trust there is no ground 
for the apprehension that they will be compelled to defend their 
rights in the near future." 



IRELAND AND THE ULSTER LEGEND 93 

EMIGRATION PERCENTAGES, 1851-1913. 

The following letters have been received from the Registrar- 
General for Ireland, Sir William J. Thompson, by the compiler 
in reply to his inquiries as to how the percentages of 112*3 
and 125*0 had bt^en arrived at for the Counties of Cork and 
Kerry respectively. 

" I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 24th 
vdtimo, and to say that the table to which you refer gives the 
average estimated population of the several counties and also 
the total numbers of emigrants for the 62 years dealt with. 
The percentage shows to what extent the total number of 
emigrants during the period exceeds or falls short of that average 
estimate." 



" In reply to your letter of the 4th instant, I beg to say that 
the elements connected with the difference in population between 
one Census enumeration and another are Natural Increase, 
Movements of the population Inwards and Movements Outwards." 

" You would appear to have overlooked the first two of these 
items in the course of your investigation." 

" Take the case of the County of Cork (referred to in your 
letter) there was a decrease of 257,204 (or 40 per cent.) in the 
population (392,104) as enumerated at the Census of 1911 in 
comparison with the Census population of 1851." ^ 

" During the period 1851-1913, 552,748 persons emigrated, 
so that 552,748 —257,204, or 295,544 may be ascribed to Natural 
Increase and Movements of the population into the County." 

" The Table in question deals with the emigration element as 
affecting the population, and it shows the relative extent of the 
exodus from the several counties of Ireland." 

* Note. — The addition of 257,204 to 392,104 gives the Census popula- 
tion of 1851, i.e. 649,308. 



Summary of ** Explanatory Memorandum," attached to the 
White Paper showing the Income Tax Assessment Returns, 
under Schedules A and B, for the year ended 5th day of April, 
1911. 

Schedule A. (i) This section covers the annual value of 
farm-lands, buildings, and farm-houses occupied by tenant 
farmers or farm- servants, also orchards, woodlands, lakes, etc., 
and gardens or pleasure-grounds in excess of one acre held with 
mansions or houses. 

Schedule A. (2) Includes the annual value of all private 
dwelling-houses, houses used partly as dwellings and partly for 
trade purposes, business premises, warehouses, etc. In the case 
of mansions or houses the valuation includes the value of any 
gardens or pleasure-grounds up to one acre. The annual value 
of business premises, warehouses, etc., includes that of any small 
parcels of land proper thereto. 

Schedule A. (3) Embraces the annual value of manorial 
rights, fines, sporting rights, and other small items. 

Schedule B. The Assessment under this Schedule represents 
the profits in respect of the occupation of lands, and such profits 
are by law deemed to be one-third of the annual value. When 
lands are occupied as nurseries or market gardens, though 
assessable under this Schedule, the profits are estimated accord- 
ing to the rule of Schedule D. 

Note. — Under Schedule B, the Assessments for the Provinces were as 
follows : — 

Leinst.er, ;^997,6i3 ; Ulster, ;£947, 746 ; Munster, ;^862,472 ; Connaught, 
A23.261. 

The total amount for Ireland under Schedule A (3) was /i,8i6. 



94 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Pagan Ireland : E. Hull (Gill & Son, Dublin), 1904. 

Early Christian Ireland : By the same Author and Publisher?, 

1905. 
Celtic Ireland : Mrs. Sophie Bryant, D.Sc., Litt.D. (Kegan Paul 

& Co., London), 1889 
The Genius of the Gael : By the same Author (Fisher Unwin), 1913. 
Social History of Ancient Ireland : P. W. Joyce (Longmans & 

Co., London), 1906-7. 
Irish Nationality : Mrs. A. Stopford Green, Litt.D., Historian 

(widow of John Richard Green), Home University Librar}-, 

191 1. (Mrs. Green edited the revised editions of " A Short 

History of the English People.") 
Making of Ireland and its Undoing : By the same Author (Mac- 

millan & Co., London), 1908. (Now published by Maunsel & 

Co., Dublin), los. 6d. 
History of Ireland in the Eighteenth Century : W. E. H. 

Lecky (Longmans & Co., London), 1892. 
England's Wealth, Ireland's Poverty : T. Lough (Downey & 

Co., London), 1896. 
Ireland a Nation : Robert Lynd (Grant Richards, Ltd., London), 

1919. 
The Framework of Home Rule : Erskine Childers (E.. Arnold, 

London), 191 1. 
Labour in Irish History : J. Connolly (Maunsel & Co., Dublin 

and London), 1917, 4s. 
Ulster and Ireland : J. W. Good (Maunsel & Co., Ltd., Dublin and 

London), 1919, 4s. 6d. 
Phases of Irish History : Eoin Macneill (Gill & Son, Dublin), 1919. 
The Evolution of Sein Fein : R. M. Henry (Fisher Unwin, 

London), 1920. 
Ourselves Alone in Ulster : Mrs. Alice Stopford Green, Litt.D. 

(Maunsel & Co., Dublin and London), 1918. Pamphlet 4d. 
Loyalty and Disloyalty (same author and publishers) : 1920. 
Pamphlet 3^. 

95 



96 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Military Rule in Ireland : Erskine Childers (The Talbot Press, 
Dublin), 1920. Pamphlet 6d. 

The Case for Ireland Considered : H. Harrison, O.B.E,, M.C. 
(Irish Dominion League, London), 1920. Pamphlet 3^. 

The Complete Grammar of Anarchy : By Members of the War 
Cabinet and their Friends. Compiled by J. J. Horgan (Maunsel 
& Co., Dublin, 1918 — Republished by Nesbit & Co., Ltd., 
London, 1919.) The words used for the Title are those adopted 
from a speech made on 5th October, 1912, by an ex-Prime 
Minister of England. 

A Handbook for Rebels : Edited by Thomas Johnson (Maunsel & 
Co., Dublin and London), 1918. Being Extracts from the 
Speeches of Sir Edward Carson, Mr. Bonar Law, Mr. F. E. Smith 
(now Lord Chancellor of England), and others. 

A History of Ireland and Its People (Illustrated) : Alderman 
W. G. Wilkins, J. P., Derby. (92 pp. is.), 1920. 

Ireland as seen by two French Writers : — 

Contemporary Ireland : L. Paul Dubois (Maunsel & Co., Dubhn 

and London), 1908. M. Dubois was " crowned " by the 

Academic Fran^aise for this book. 
LTrlande dans la Crise Universelle du 3 AOUT, 1914, AU 25 

juiLLET, 1917, ETC. : Louis Treguise (Felix Alcan, Paris), 1918. 

(Nouvelle Edition, pai^aitra 1921). 



Hammond ... THE TERROR IN ACTION . . (prepaid) 2o cts. 

3 COPIES " 50 CTS. 

Figgis. D. .THE ECONOMIC CASE FOR IRISH 

INDEPENDENCE 75 CTS. 

OHEGARTY. P. S . .THE INDESTRUCTIBLE NATION. . . .$1.00 

GOOD, J. W IRISH UNIONISM $1.50 

LYND. R IRELAND : A NATION $2.00 

HENRY. R. M THE EVOLUTION OF SINN FEIN $2.00 

GREEN. A. S. . . . . MAKING AND UNMAKING OF IRELAND. .$2.00 



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